Mamata to woo Hills with jobs

DARJEELING: If the mood on Monday was any indicator, Mamata Banerjee would consider half the battle won. As she showered sop after sop on Bengal’s ‘‘ neglected’ ’ terrains, revelling in her status as one of the few heavyweight Cabinet ministers to visit the Hills, the Trinamool Congress chief churned out a mix of promises and politics to
accomplish what she had set out to do — win hearts and gain mileage.

At a public function organized by Northeast Frontier Railways at Darjeeling station and cheered on by a capacity crowd, Mamata offered to bring the Prime Minister to Darjeeling with a development package. And with her eyes firmly on the assembly elections next year, she also outlined her plans for the Hills if she became CM.

‘‘ If I become the CM, there will be a seat of the state secretariat in Darjeeling (like in the British days when Darjeeling was the summer capital of Bengal),’’ she promised, and went on to add: ‘‘ After I go back, I will give my recommendations to the Prime Minister . I’ll tell him, please come here with a special package. There is need for it in Darjeeling .’’

She also promised to recommend to the Union finance minister a tax holiday for setting up industries in Darjeeling , like in other hill areas.

In an attempt to win over the people there, she made a special mention of the problems faced by ex-servicemen in the Hills and unemployment among youth.