Madan Tamang

Siliguri, May 30: Nothing seems to be going the CPM?s way.

After the crushing defeat in the Mirik municipal polls and the alleged involvement of SFI in the death of a schoolboy, the Darjeeling unit of the CPM is staring another problem in the face.

An article in its national weekly mouthpiece, People's Democracy (May 9-15 issue), has stirred a hornet?s nest, with senior PDF leaders taking umbrage to the way the CPM has been described as leading the five-party anti-GNLF alliance in the hills.

The article says: ?The CPM is leading an alliance in the hills and is set to fulfil hopes and aspirations of the hill people, raising the slogan of peace, democracy and development.?

This, the PDF leaders say, is against the grain of recent deliberations between the two blocs.

PDF functionary and senior GNLF(C) leader D.K. Pradhan said: ?It is not true that the CPM is leading any alliance in the Hills. The party should not see itself as leading the anti-GNLF coalition. We have decided to join hands (on seat sharing) with the CPM to defeat the GNLF.?

The leaders of the three PDF constituents ? ABGL, GNLF(C) and CPRM ? have discussed the matter in two meetings held recently, and have made known their displeasure to the CPM, a source said.

Observers feel the ?new controversy? could ruffle feathers in the PDF ranks and jeopardise electoral prospects of the PDF-CPM-CPI combine at a time when there is a thaw in the hostilities between the hill leaders and the CPM?s Darjeeling brass.

PDF chairman and ABGL leader Madan Tamang said: ?We don?t feel any party is leading the hill alliance, which was forged for a special purpose and has equal space for all costituents.?

Also, after taking stock of the political developments in the hills at its one-day session in Calcutta recently, the CPM state committee had decided to improve ?ties? with the hill leaders with the purpose of ending the GNLF?s misrule.

The matter was also discussed at the meeting held in Kurseong last Saturday to strengthen the PDF-CPM-CPI conglomerate.

However, urban development and municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya told The Telegraph: ?Our bond with the PDF hinges on a common interest against the GNLF. We will put up a united show against Subash Ghisingh in the ensuing hill council elections.?

CPM insiders, too, said ?serious efforts? should now be made to sustain the hill alliance in the face of mounting difficulties.

?Our relationship with the hill leaders was a touch-and-go affair in the post-Gorkhaland agitation phase. Not any more. We should explore newer avenues to cement relations with the hill leadership,? said a hill CPM leader.