A woman carries vegetables on her back in Darjeeling. (AFP)

Bagdogra/Calcutta, June 23: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders are headed to Delhi uninvited, and also to Calcutta, betraying a desperation to hold talks.

In Calcutta, they want discussions with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, from whom they have an invitation for talks. In Delhi, they will try to meet the Prime Minister and other senior ministers and leaders.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, who left for Delhi today with two party colleagues, acknowledged at Bagdogra airport: “It is true that nobody (in Delhi) has invited us but we thought of going there to discuss our demand for a Gorkhaland state with central ministers.”

The Bengal government received a letter from the Morcha late in the evening saying it was sending over a team on Friday. “They plan to meet the chief minister,” Giri said.

The team will be led by veteran leaders Anmole Prasad and Amar Lama, and will include Raju Pradhan and Dinesh Chandra Rai.

Asked about the Delhi plans, Giri said: “We have arranged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar tomorrow and have decided to meet L.K. Advani… (and) Shivraj Patil. We’ll try to meet the Prime Minister, too.”

Sources said the Morcha did not have an appointment with Advani but had received hints that there could be one with home minister Patil.

Bhattacharjee, however, had earlier invited the Morcha to talks although he had not specified a date.

“The Morcha’s letter says they want discussions with the government, but does not specify whom they want to talk to. Nor have they elaborated on what they want to discuss,” an official in the chief minister’s secretariat said.

State home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said: “Our government is eager to have talks with them. So if the Morcha seeks an appointment with the chief minister, we would be only too happy to organise it.”