Darjeeling, May 16: It is time for renewal of old alliances in the hills.
In order to thwart Subash Ghisingh’s attempt to scuttle the Opposition challenge in the hills, the Madan Tamang-led Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) has expressed its willingness to work together with the CPM before the crucial DGHC poll.
The ABGL was a member of the Left Front government up to the early eighties.
Ghisingh’s support for the Congress in the Lok Sabha poll had put the five-party People’s Democratic Front, of which the ABGL is an important member, in a spot. Congress nominee Dawa Narbula was the PDF’s consensus candidate and Ghisingh’s decision to back him was seen as a masterstroke that would bring about a division in the Opposition ranks.
The CPM had recently said it was prepared to rethink its ties with the PDF and its constituent members to put up an effective challenge to the GNLF in the DGHC poll slated for November. Madan Tamang today hinted that his party was willing to join hands with anyone who was committed to ousting the GNLF from power in the hills.
“Electoral alliances are based on a common minimum programme and there are neither permanent enemies nor friends in politics. We are ready to extend our hand even to leprosy inflicted people if it is in the interest of the common people of the hills,” said Tamang.
The ABGL’s decision to work together with the CPM is an indication that the party wants to be at the vanguard of the Opposition challenge in the hills.
The party’s decision is also aimed at providing direction to the PDF, whose future was in question after the GNLF decided to back Narbula and subsequently claimed credit for his victory.
The move is also expected to channelise all anti- Ghisingh votes during the council elections.
Even though the PDF is yet to take any formal decision vis-a-vis the CPM, the ABGL move is being seen as a pointer towards the new political equations being worked out in the hills.
A belligerent ABGL leadership also reiterated that “nothing could break the PDF” and that it would pursue its agenda of ousting the GNLF with utmost seriousness.
According to observers, Ghisingh, has effectively taken the steam out of the Opposition challenge by backing the Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha poll. Ghisingh’s move was primarily aimed at creating a schism in the PDF before the council elections. A PDF-CPM tie up could prove to be historic in hill politics because it has the possibility of being able to unseat the GNLF, which has run the council since its inception.
The ABGL has always been considered a Left-leaning party and has participated in earlier CPM-led governments where its leaders like D.P. Rai have served as ministers.
Tamang, however, said that their overtures towards the CPM should not be confused with the “tacit understanding” the GNLF chooses to have with different parties in order to perpetuate its reign at all costs.
“Unlike the unholy alliance that had for long existed between the GNLF and the CPM, the new alliance, if it materialises, will be based on a common minimum programme. If we do form an alliance we will make our make our stand clear to the public. We will also explain the need to form such an alliance,” said Tamang.
With the ABGL having made its intention clear, it is now the turn of the other PDF partners, especially the CPRM to spell out its views.
