Bhattacharya in Siliguri on Thursday. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Feb. 28: The Bengal government has the option to ask Subash Ghisingh to step down as caretaker administrator of the DGHC before his term expires on March 24, minister Asok Bhattacharya said today.

“It was the state that appointed him and, if the situation so demands, it can ask him to resign,” the Siliguri MLA said.

Stressing that the primary importance was to bring peace in the hills, Bhattacharya said discussions had started in Calcutta and a solution was likely to emerge. “We welcome both the chief minister and the Morcha leadership’s role.”

According to the Memorandum of Settlement signed in 2005, the council’s caretaker administrator would change only if elections were held or the six-month term expired, whichever was earlier. “But since the government appointed him, it is also possible for the state to ask him to step down. No cabinet resolution or ordinance is required for this.”

Bhattacharya, however, was not specific about whether such a move would be taken by the government. “Discussions with the chief minister will continue and an amicable solution will emerge,” he told reporters at the party office here. He was accompanied by state CPM secretariat member Jibitesh Sarkar and district secretary S.P. Lepcha.

At the receiving end of verbal attacks from various quarters for labelling Morcha supporters “outsiders”, Bhattacharya today said the comment had been misinterpreted.

“The agitation is regarding the DGHC area — Siliguri has no links with it. Keeping in mind the clashes of September 28 last year, the police and the administration rightly decided not to allow the protesters to go to the Siliguri subdivisional office where they planned to sit on a hunger strike.”

“It was in this light that we said that the Morcha was using elements from outside Siliguri in a move that would have ultimately led to serious trouble,” Bhattacharya said.

The CPM leaders also criticised the Morcha for its “undemocratic movement”, especially the use of anti-people methods like indefinite bandhs. “Not only has the hills but even Salbari on the outskirts of Siliguri in the plains has been included in the bandh,” he said.