Calcutta, Feb. 25: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has appealed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to withdraw the indefinite bandh in the hills and respond to the chief minister’s invitation for talks.

“I’ve (been) following the recent crisis in Darjeeling district closely. The fast… has caused me great concern,” a statement issued by the governor’s office this evening said.

Earlier in the day, Subash Ghisingh met Gandhi and told him that the government should take steps to restore normality as the hill economy was being hit by the Morcha’s “destructive agitation”.

“It is my duty to tell you that the council has been crippled by a destructive agitation. I want the state to make arrangements to ensure normality,” a Raj Bhavan source quoted Ghisingh as saying.

Asked if he told the governor that the state should ask for the deployment of central forces in the hills, the official said: “It is not for Ghisingh but the state to decide.”