Kolkata: The West Bengal government is not
in favour of a separate Gorkhaland but will discuss the issue
if it comes up during the December 21 tripartite talks in
Darjeeling, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said on Thursday.
There was no written agenda of the tripartite talks
between representatives of the Centre, West Bengal government
and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), but issues like granting
more autonomy or scrapping of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill
Council were likely to come up, Sen told reporters here.
To a question whether the talks would be held as GJM was
continuing its indefinite fast to press its separate state
demand, Sen evaded a direct reply saying "It will depend on
the situation."
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai will lead a five-member
central team to the talks and the state government would be
represented by Chief Secretary Asok Chakraborty, Home
Secretary Sen, DGP Bhupinder Singh and the Darjeeling district
magistrate Surendra Gupta.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 23:14