Suvendu Adhikari, on his first visit to north Bengal as chief minister on Wednesday, alleged corruption in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the Darjeeling hills and promised punitive action against “thieves”.
Suvendu, while interacting with the media after landing at the Bagdogra airport, said: “Through investigation, punitive action will be taken against thieves regarding the corruption that has taken place in the GTA, the hills.”
The chief minister’s decision to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the GTA in his interaction with journalists right after his arrival was widely discussed in the political circles of Darjeeling.
Later, Raju Bista, the Darjeeling MP, said that the chief minister, in the course of the administrative review meeting held in Siliguri, asked him and the three hill BJP MLAs to keep a close eye on the GTA and the hill municipalities.
“During the meeting, the chief minister asked the MP and MLAs to monitor and keep a close watch on the GTA and the hill municipalities,” said Bista. “He also wants a separate meeting regarding GTA. I will personally go to Cacultta for this. There are issues (to resolve) regarding corruption in the GTA and its future."
The GTA and the Darjeeling municipality are controlled by the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), Trinamool's hill ally. The SDOs of Kalimpong, Kureong and Mirik recently took charge of these three municipalities after the BGPM-Trinamool-led boards of administrators were removed.
Elections to the three boards have been due since 2022. Bista said that the new state government was looking to conduct the elections soon after the monsoon.
Hill parties such as the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front (IGJF) have been consistently alleging corruption in the GTA and hill municipalities.
Ajoy Edwards, convener of the IGJF, on Tuesday wrote to the chief minister through Darjeeling MP Bista, alleging corruption on various fronts.
The issues raised by the IGJF included “illegal leasing and transfer of public properties”, “abuse of authority”, “bypassing of the GTA Sabha and standing committee”, “misappropriation and diversion of public funds”, “manipulation of tender processes", "contractor syndicates” and “corruption in recruitment”, among others.
Thapa, the chief executive of the GTA, recently said that investigations into corruption in the hill body should be initiated from 2012 onwards. Bimal Gurung of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, currently the BJP's ally, was in charge of the hill body from 2012 to 2017.
Responding to Thapa’s statement, Gurung stated that the Mamata Banerjee-led government had conducted “a special audit” in the GTA during 2017-18 but found no wrongdoing.