Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, met Pankaj Kumar Singh, the interlocutor appointed by the Centre to look into hill issues, on Wednesday, a day after a section of GTA Sabha members had assembled discreetly and discussed plans to leave Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatrantik Morcha (BGPM).

Thapa met the interlocutor at Takdah, about 30km from Darjeeling.

The meeting has assumed significance as Thapa refused to meet Singh before the Assembly elections.

“Issues regarding the hills and on the way forward with the administrative setup were discussed. They (interlocutor) have come thinking of good for the hills and talks were positive,” said Thapa.

Thapa’s team clarified that he called on the interlocutor in his capacity as the GTA chief executive.

The BGPM is an ally of the Trinamool Congress. The prominent allies of the BJP in the hills are the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) of Bimal Gurung and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF).

Leaders of both the Morcha and the GNLF had met the interlocutor in the past.

A section of GTA Sabha members met outside Darjeeling on Tuesday to discuss their way forward.

“We were around 12 GTA Sabha members and discussed our future course of action as we do not want to be tagged as corrupt,” said a GTA Sabha member who attended
the meeting.

Even though no concrete decision was taken, a section of the 12 Sabha members did talk of resigning from Thapa’s BGPM and remaining as Independents.

“Some members talked about resigning from the party but not the GTA. However, no concrete decision was taken,” the source added.

This is the second time that GTA Sabha members have assembled without taking the party leadership’s permission.

The GTA Sabha presently has 43 elected members.

Bimal Gurung’s supporters had raised the Gorkhaland slogan when Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul had visited Mirik on Monday.

Local Morcha leaders had said that though the party was an ally of the BJP, they were unaware of Paul’s visit to Mirik.

“Against the backdrop of all these political developments, Thapa’s meeting with the interlocutor gains immense importance,” said a political observer.

Even though the BJP has promised a “permanent political solution” for the hills, Union home minister Amit Shah had said during the election campaign that a solution would be worked out without dividing Bengal.

The BJP has never explained what it meant by the “permanent political solution”, although the promise had featured in the party’s election manifestos.