Jaswant reaches out to Advani for Gorkhaland

NEW DELHI: The four-day-long bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in support of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland state was called off on Monday evening after Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh and the principal Opposition party, the BJP, appealed to them to help restore normalcy in the region in the run up to the commencement of the December 21 tripartite talks.

The issue came up during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha on Monday, when Mr Singh, who was elected to the House from Darjeeling with the backing of the GJM, made out a strong case for the formation of the separate state of Gorkhaland. He, at the same time, urged the protesters to withdraw their bandh call to pave the way of favourable conditions for the resumption of tripartite talks. His appeal was endorsed by Leader of the Opposition and his former colleague L K Advani.

A GJM delegation led by its general secretary Roshan Giri met Mr Advani and Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley later in the day, seeking their support for their cause. “Mr Advani appealed to the GJM leaders to continue with the tripartite talks after giving up the path of bandh and fast,’’ Ms Swaraj informed newspersons later in the day.

The combined efforts of the BJP and its estranged colleague had a positive impact on the GJM. The 96-hour shutdown was subsequently called off at 6 pm. “The decision was taken after the BJP leaders urged that the shutdown call be withdrawn for a normal situation to prevail before the tripartite talks schedule in Darjeeling on December 21,’’ Mr Giri said later.