Darjeeling, July 7: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has again called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for talks in Calcutta and the hill outfit is again likely to spurn the offer.

The Morcha leadership received a letter from the chief minister here last evening.

“We had made it clear after the last meeting at Writers’ Buildings on June 27 that we are interested only in talks with Delhi, which the state government will attend,” a senior Morcha leader said.

The party refused to react formally to the letter. It will do so tomorrow.

“Thank you for your letter dated 5 July, 2008, regarding the proposal for a tripartite meeting to discuss your demand,” the chief minister wrote.

“I accept your proposal for a tripartite meeting to discuss your demand. However, I am of the view that it will be fruitful if a meeting at a bipartite level between your organisation and the state government is held to arrive at a possible solution before going for the discussion at the tripartite level.”

The Morcha had written to Bhattacharjee on Saturday, pressing for tripartite talks.

The prompt reply suggests the chief minister’s eagerness to have cordial relations with the Morcha. “I am grateful that your party has decided not to resort to bandhs for the time being,” Bhattacharjee wrote.

Although the Morcha has extended the bandh breather till August 7, it has not allowed government offices in the hills to open.

Morcha central committee leaders today changed the WB (West Bengal) in their car number plates to GL (for Gorkhaland). “This is a form of protest. It is part of our civil disobedience movement. We will later ask government vehicles to sport GL number plates,” Morcha president Bimal Gurung said.

He also dared the government to take action against the owners of the vehicles sporting the new plates. “Let them take action, we will see.”

Darjeeling police chief Rahul Srivastava said the state home secretary had already clarified the government’s stand. During a recent visit to Siliguri, Asok Mohan Chakrabarti had said the “GL” number plates would be illegal.

Observers said since the chief minister was directly negotiating with the Morcha brass, it was unlikely that district officials would crack down on the cars without instructions from their bosses in Calcutta.