Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS) The scheduled visit of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to Darjeeling on Wednesday was cancelled at the last moment. Now the Chief Minister is travelling to Gujarat to attend an event marking 25 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public administrative journey.
CM Adhikari was slated to be the key speaker at the GJM’s foundation day program in Darjeeling. The event had drawn considerable political interest as the Chief Minister of Sikkim was also expected to share the stage.
Political observers viewed the occasion as a possible step towards improved ties between West Bengal and Sikkim, moving beyond the tensions that marked the 2017-18 Gorkhaland agitation in the Darjeeling hills, with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime constantly accusing the Sikkim government of fueling the tension in the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in North Bengal.
Commenting on the event’s significance, Bimal Gurung, founder-president of the GJM, said relations between West Bengal and Sikkim had improved under the current political dispensation and described the effort to bring the two Chief Ministers together as an initiative aimed at strengthening ties between the neighbouring states.
“When Mamata Banerjee was the Chief Minister earlier, relations with Sikkim then were not good. Be it a problem in Sikkim or in West Bengal, the people of Sikkim had to bear all the hardships. But now the situation has improved in a double-engine government in West Bengal,” Gurung said.
Gurung also said that bringing the two Chief Ministers on the same platform was an initiative on the part of GJM to improve ties between Sikkim and West Bengal.
He also said that he had always viewed CM Adhikari as a leader who understands struggle. “We have been with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2009. Now they have come to power not only at the Centre but also in West Bengal. A leader who has struggled always understands the sacrifice of others. Adhikari has gone through many ups and downs during the previous Trinamool Congress regime. I have also gone through many difficult situations. Even during those difficult times, I had a good relationship with Shuvendu Adhikari,” Gurung added.
–IANS
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