‘GJMM will stick to Gorkhaland’ SNS, KURSEONG, 27 SEPT: The GJMM has iterated its stand that it would unilaterally declare Gorkhaland in the first half of the next year in case the tripartite dialogue slated in Darjeeling on 21 December fails to yield result as per the declaration of the party president, Mr Bimal Gurung a few days back. Commenting on the matter, the GJMM spokesperson, Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri said that despite the submission of all the documents deemed relevant regarding their statehood demand the Central government had not made its stand clear on the tricky issue. “They are deferring decision on the pretext of the continuing dialogue. Our patience is wearing thin as this spell of dithering keeps dragging on. We want the Centre to spell out its stand unequivocally clear one and for all,” Dr Chettri said. Regarding the formation of Durga Malla Special Force, Dr Chettri said that as patriotic citizens they could not afford to remain idle when the land of the country was being surreptiously grabbed by the Chinese Army. “The special force would be formed under the guidance of the Centre,” he added. When asked whether his party has approached the Centre regarding the proposal the GJMM media secretary said that they had not submitted any paper in this respect. “We have forwarded our proposal through the instrumentality of the media and now we are awaiting the Centre's response,” he said. He also added that however with the help of media we have already informed the matter to the government and presently we are waiting for the government’s reaction on the matter. Christian pick on Congress poll list

CITHARA PAUL

The Telegraph, New Delhi, Sept. 27: For the first time, a major Christian body has asked a political party to give poll nominations to candidates from the community, and the party has obliged. The All India Christian Council, a conglomerate of all Christian denominations, wrote to Sonia Gandhi a few weeks ago requesting tickets for Christians in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Congress has accepted two of the council’s nine nominees, both political lightweights. Janet D’Souza has been fielded from Ghatkopar — where she is up against a formidable opponent, the late Pramod Mahajan’s daughter Poonam — and an advocate, Gonsalves, from Vasai. Maharashtra has 18 lakh Christians, of whom 8 lakh live in Mumbai. “We had written to Sonia Gandhi early this month asking for deserving representation for Christians in the party’s candidate list, and we are extremely happy,” said Abraham Mathai, general secretary of the council, whose initials, AICC, are coincidentally the same as those of the All India Congress Committee. The Christian community has played crucial political roles in Kerala, Goa and some northeastern states, but it had never before engaged in poll politics so openly. Mathai said the council wrote the letter because it was “aware of the importance of integrating with the mainstream”. Asked why the council wrote only to the Congress, he said Christians were traditional supporters of the party. “Christians are considered fixed deposits for the Congress and not vote banks. Vote banks can shift their loyalty, but FDs never do that.” Council secretary John Dayal said Christians had always been under-represented even in the secular parties, including the Congress. “Christians have always been sidelined in the Congress because of the Christian background of its president. Scared that the RSS would link any Christian leader’s rise in the power hierarchy to that background, many Christian leaders have been deliberately kept low-key,’’ he said. The Congress does have powerful leaders from the community, such as defence minister A.K. Antony, though he has desisted from mixing his religion and politics. Cong fails to choose civic body leader - Three aspirants in race for post, party hopes for Pranab intervention TT, Sept. 27: The Congress is sharply divided over the choice of its party leader in Siliguri Municipal Corporation although only two days are left for the submission of documents concerning the selection of the mayor and the chairpersons of the civic body. The selection of the mayor and chairpersons has to be completed by September 30, which is the last date for the submission of the related papers to the SMC commissioner, as the new councillors will take oath on October 1. The faction-ridden Congress is finding it difficult to choose the leader of its councillors from among three aspirants — Gangotri Dutta, Gauri Dutta and Nantu Pal. According to Congress sources, of the 15 party councillors while seven want Gangotri Dutta to be the leader because of her “clean” image, five are for Gauri Dutta for her seniority. Another three are in favour of Nantu Pal as he had broken away from the CPM to join the party. “There is no denying that our party councillors are divided,” said a Congress leader from Siliguri. Faced with this imbroglio, Darjeeling district Congress president Shankar Malakar has sought the state leadership’s intervention. Party sources said Raiganj MP Deepa Das Munshi, who was in Siliguri yesterday, has also decided to take up the matter with Bengal Congress president Pranab Mukherjee, who is now holidaying at his ancestral home in Birbhum. “How can the Congress, which has failed to choose its leader, stake claim to the mayor’s post? Let them first decide who could be their leader in the corporation,” said Trinamul Congress MLA Partha Chatterjee, who is also the Opposition leader in the Assembly. State Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya said he would talk to Mukherjee tomorrow on his return to Calcutta from Birbhum. “We shall be able to settle the matter before September 30,” he added. Malakar had a one-to-one with Trinamul’s leader in the civic body Gautam Deb in Siliguri today to decide on the mayor, chairpersons, deputy mayor and 11 other posts to be shared by the two allies. At the meeting that lasted for more than an hour, both parties staked claim to the mayor’s post. As a result, it ended inconclusively. “We could not arrive at a consensus on the mayor candidate at today’s meeting,” said Deb. “Against this backdrop, we have referred the matter to our state leadership in Calcutta and would act further only on the basis of its instructions.” Today’s meeting was a result of a decision taken at a discussion held with Partha Chatterjee on Friday. Malakar said he was keeping regular contact with the PCC leadership. “It is true that we need to negotiate and reach a consensus but I cannot take any decision without consulting my state leadership and Pranabda (Mukherjee),” he said. “Pranabda will announce who our leader will be in a day or two,” he told The Telegraphin Calcutta over the telephone late at night. The results of the SMC elections were announced on September 15 — more than 10 days ago — but so far the anti-Left alliance which has secured 29 seats and has the support of Independent Ranjan Sil Sharma, is yet to finalise the names for the mayor and other posts. 2 die as car falls in gorge TT, Siliguri, Sept. 27: Two persons were killed and nine others injured when a jeep fell into a 100-ft deep gorge along the Jorethang road in West Sikkim last night. Police said the vehicle was on its way to Sanbaria carrying 10 passengers, along with the driver and cleaner. The two who died are Pradip Chhetri, the driver, and Kamala Tamang, a passenger. The injured were taken to a local hospital. Three have been referred to Siliguri. Woman killed TT, Jaigaon: A woman was killed and two others, including her husband, were injured when a garden worker allegedly drunk attacked them. Poni Bhumij of Borodighi Tea Estate was stabbed in the abdomen by Moniram Mahali while on her way home in the Borodighi Tea Estate on Saturday night. When her husband Rupai came to her rescue along with another worker Amir Munda, they, too, were attacked.