Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the functioning of the office of the interlocutor, appointed to "look into issues of Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai".
This is the second letter of objection written by Mamata against the appointment of Pankaj Kumar Singh, a former deputy national security advisor, as an “interlocutor and government representative” to look into the issue of the region.
“Kindly refer to my letter dated October 18, 2025 requesting you to reconsider and revoke the appointment of retired IPS officer as the interlocutor for the issues relating to the Gorkhas in Darjeeling hills, which your office had promptly acknowledged and advised Home Minister to look into (copy enclosed),” Mamata wrote in her latest letter to the Prime Minister.
The Telegraph was the only newspaper that had reported that Modi had advised home minister Amit Shah to look into the complaints raised by Mamata on October 18. The report had created an uproar in the region.
Mamata on Monday said that despite the PM’s advice, “the Office of the Interlocutor under Ministry of Home Affairs, has, vide Memo dated 10th November 2025, communicated that the office of the interlocutor has already started functioning”.
“This is really shocking,” wrote the chief minister and added that the “unilateral and arbitrary action of the Central government” was unconstitutional, without jurisdiction and devoid of legal sanctity.
Observers of hill politics, however, said that there was much to read between the lines in Mamata’s letter.
“Mamata seems to be building a narrative ahead of the Assembly polls that the BJP-led Centre is looking to divide Bengal,” said an observer.
Following the BJP’s success in Bihar, Modi has made his intentions clear about the party’s goal in Bengal.
“In the letter, Mamata has highlighted that ‘The Darjeeling region is an inseparable and integral part of the State of West Bengal’. This is probably to suggest and create a narrative that the BJP is trying to divide the state by appointing an interlocutor,” the observer said.
Mamata’s letter also talks about “assault on the autonomy of the state of West Bengal”.
“The appointment of an interlocutor to deal with issues already governed by a valid State law is a blatant encroachment upon the federal structure of the nation and an assault on the autonomy of the State of West Bengal….,” Mamata’s letter states.
The chief minister has also alleged in the letter that the present move of the Centre "also appears to be a politically motivated attempt to disturb the peace and stability of the region".
“The content of the letter clearly suggests that the chief minister is building a narrative against the BJP in the rest of the state,” the observer added.
Mamata's letter has stated that the region is governed by the Gorkha Territorial Administration Act 2011, the observer pointed out.
In Bengal, pro-Gorkhaland votes influence six to eight seats, while the remaining of the 294 seats are largely against the creation of a new state.
The BJP is also aware of the sensitivity involved in the issue. The party had in its manifesto for the previous Lok Sabha elections used the word “permanent political solution” and not Gorkhaland state.