Legacy derailed
With the West Bengal Transport Minister, Snehasish Chakraborty, announcing, in end-September, the virtual closure of trams, Kolkata’s heritage transport system is now facing an existential crisis.
The youth wing of the Jan Andolan Party (JAP) has said that the upcoming parliamentary elections of 2019 are an opportunity for the Hill people to choose the ‘right person.’
The party wing also said that people have the right to choose a political party and get involved in politics, and added that the developments that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Board of Administrators have been carrying out are the Hill people’s right.
“The development projects that the GTA Board of Administrators has been taking ahead in the Hills should not come as alms for the people. They are people’s right,” Bishal Rai, a youth central committee member of the party said here on Monday.
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“The West Bengal government had submitted a form in the Calcutta High Court regarding the loss of revenue in Darjeeling Hills during the recent agitation. They have calculated the loss to the tune of Rs 350-400 crore in 10 days, when on the other hand, they generate more than 4,000 crore a year from the Hills, and our same money is returned in the form of developments,” Mr Rai told a press conference.
“The 2019 general elections are an opportunity for the Hill people to choose the right person who can take issues of the Hills to the parliament,” Mr Rai said, also requesting the people and other political parties in the Hills to be wise this time around.
“In a democratic country, a citizen has the right to choose his/her own political party and get involved in it, but the administration here has been threatening people when they do anything related to democracy in the Hills,” Mr Rai further alleged.
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