The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Binoy Tamang faction) today claimed that the state government’s official Bhanu Jayanti programme at Chowrasta here, in which their leader Anit Thapa was invited, showed that the state government was inclined towards them.

The 207th birth anniversary of the pioneer Nepali poet Bhanu Bhakta Acharya was jointly organised here by the state government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Information and Culture department. “Today’s programme at Chowrasta showed who the government is with and makes the political scenario clear.

Our leader Anit Thapa, being invited to a programme organised by the government and a state minister attending it, shows that who the government is inclined towards and gives priority to,” said Morcha (Tamang camp) leader Alok Kanta Mani Thulung. He added that leaders of his party were not so willing to accept the GTA as it was a “liability.”

At the programme today, homage was paid to the Bhanu Bhakta statue at Chowrasta by TMC leaders like Gautam Deb, the chairman of the Board of Administrators at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, and Bulu Chik Baraik, the Minister of State for Backward Classes Welfare and Tribal Development Department.

Speaking on the same lines, another Morcha (Tamang camp) leader Keshav Raj Pokhrel said, “They (Bimal Gurung camp of Morcha) are meeting ministers, but ministers are meeting us. Ours is a regional party with direct connection with Mamata Banerjee, and issues being raised by us are being addressed.” Referring to the Gurung camp delegation meeting ministers in Kolkata in the past few days, Mr Thulung also alleged that those were only “photo shoots.”

“If we were to get Gorkhaland by clicking photos with ministers, then we would have got it many times by now,” he said. On the other hand, Morcha leader of the other camp, Bimal Gurung, was seen paying homage to the Bhanu Bhakta statue at Chowrasta after the government programme was over. Similar programmes were organized to mark the birth anniversary of the poet in Siliguri, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik, and other areas in the region.