Congress claims it is only alternative for development in Hills

REZA PRADHAN

DARJEELING,: Senior Congress leaders on Tuesday urged Darjeeling people to support the party, claiming that the Congress was the only alternative capable of ensuring proper development in the hills and addressing its long-standing political demands.

The leaders were speaking after a meeting held at the Congress party office here. As part of their North Bengal tour, the leaders began their outreach from Darjeeling, interacting with local residents.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary J.B. Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that with the State Assembly elections approaching, the Congress party was aiming to strengthen its presence in West Bengal. We want to understand the aspirations and demands of the people and see how we can address them in the coming polls by including them in our election manifesto, he said.

Mir added that the party wanted to assure people of Darjeeling that their demands would be properly heard and represented. If we receive the mandate in Bengal, we will take up their issues and try to fulfil them within the framework of the Constitution, he said.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Subhankar Sarkar said that Darjeeling, being a part of West Bengal, deserved inclusive development. He said the Congress was focusing on local problems faced by the people and expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the region.

Sarkar also highlighted issues such as unemployment and the daily wages of tea garden workers.

“When the Congress was in power 48 years ago, Bengal was not in such a bad shape. Bringing the Congress back to power is the only way to improve the situation,” Sarkar said, alleging that both the BJP and the TMC were indulging in “politics of polarisation”.

He further claimed that the BJP had failed to fulfil any of Darjeeling’s demands, while the ruling TMC had also not been able to bring meaningful change to the area.

Munish Tamang, vice president of the West Bengal Congress Committee, said that several achievements in the hills had taken place during Congress rule, including language recognition and the formation of the DGHC and later the GTA. The people here need change, and that is why the Congress has come to Darjeeling, he said.

Tamang alleged that for the past 15 years, the region had witnessed “politics of lies”, with people caught between what he described as the corruption of the TMC and the communal politics of the BJP.

He said that issues discussed during the meeting and proposed for inclusion in the party manifesto included long-standing political demands of the region, tea garden-related problems, and infrastructure collapse, among others. He added that he was a member of the manifesto committee.

Responding to questions on the demand for a separate State and tribal status for 11 left-out Gorkha communities, Tamang said that the Gorkhaland demand was an age-old issue. If there is any national party that can engage with this issue and bring about a solution, it is the Congress, he said.

Tamang maintained that while the BJP had addressed the issue in the past, it had failed to deliver. The Congress has a history of addressing this issue constitutionally, from the formation of the DGHC to the introduction of a Sixth Schedule Bill in Parliament and later the formation of the GTA, he said.