The tripartite meeting on Darjeeling issues has been postponed to Thursday because of the Centre’s decision to introduce the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in Parliament on Wednesday.

The talks had earlier been scheduled for Wednesday in Delhi.

Raju Bista, the BJP MP from Darjeeling, confirmed the development.

“The meeting will now be held at 10am on Thursday as a whip has been issued by the party tomorrow (following the decision to introduce the bill),” said Bista.

The meeting was scheduled to be chaired by Nityanand Rai, minister of state (home affairs).

The late evening development, however, has not sent a positive message in the Darjeeling hills given the Centre’s poor track record on the outcome of these meetings.

Even two days before the meeting, the list of Darjeeling participants is not yet clear. Roshan Giri, general secretary, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, however, said their party president, Bimal Gurung, had received an invitation.

“The list will be clear by tomorrow,” said Bista.

Issues like tribal status for 11 Gorkha community, a permanent political solution for the Darjeeling hills and the state’s decision to allow non-tea activities in 30 per cent of tea garden land are likely to figure in the meeting.

The last tripartite meeting had been convened almost four years back on October 12, 2021. There have been instances of the Centre not holding the tripartite meeting despite promising the same.