On the other hand, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, who sponsored the indefinite bandh, say that they will take the final call on whether it will be withdrawn. And they will decide one way or the other only after a tripartite meeting involving the central government is held, not before.

The only problem with the GJM stand is whether it has any locus standi on such questions any more. Headed by Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri, both now on the run and conducting proceedings by remote control from Delhi or Sikkim, the GJM quit the autonomous Darjeeling Civic Authority it was running prior to calling its indefinite bandh for a separate Gorkhaland state. It did so on the eve of the second round of elections for a new civic body.

Its members resigned, leaving Darjeeling rudderless, even as the state government sought detailed, audited expenditure reports for Rs 1,500 crore the civic body had spent in its first five year tenure. Fresh civic elections are round the corner. The funds came from the Centre and the state.

Asked to furnish utilisation certificates for expenditure incurred on specific projects, the GJM countered by declaring that it did not recognise the authority of the state government and would pursue its Gorkhaland demand ‘only with the central government’. Even this was conditional: a sub clause stated that it would only attend such a meeting in Delhi, with or without state government representatives, only if the modalities of setting up a proposed new Gorkha state were on the agenda.

As the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government ignored the GJM’s announcements, the BJP-run central government followed suit. Giri, who has been camping comfortably in Delhi for almost three months, hoping to cash in on the much advertised animosity between Delhi and Kolkata on most issues, really got nowhere as far as securing the GJM”s interests were concerned.

His behaviour, according to his critics in other Darjeeling–based parties like the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), is not surprising. They point to other significant facts about the functioning style of the two leaders, Gurung and Giri. It turns out that both leaders had prepared well in advance for a long stay out of the troubled hills, with even their relatives arranging to go on long leave from their present assignments, to ensure that their salaries would not be affected during the duration of the bandh.

Gurung himself stayed put comfortably in Sikkim, and won support from Chief Minister Pawan Chamling for the first time in the Gorkha cause. More pertinently, both ‘leaders’ avoided the rigours and hardships of a long indefinite bandh with their families, even as they urged upon their followers to tighten their belts, desist from all work whether in government offices or tea plantations and even prevent their children from attending schools!

During the three months long agitation at least 40 government or GJM autonomous offices were burnt, along with scores of official vehicles and police jeeps. Interestingly, mostly offices which kept official files and records were targeted first and soon bomb explosions were reported from the vicinity of police stations, resulting in injuries and death to people . At least 9 people were killed in police action and two policemen were also killed during clashes with aggressive GJM supporters.

The state government and the badly-hit tea and tourism industry circles estimated that official losses amounted to at least Rs 500 crore so far. But with the Centre putting the ball in the state’s court and the state not exerting itself to end the stalemate, pointing to the GJM”s ‘intransigence‘, the bandh seemed to be achieving nothing at all, even as the miseries mounted for the people. The state had stopped the salaries for workers and employees not reporting for duty and even stopped the movement of foodgrains after demonstrators targeted cargo carrying trucks.

Currently both GJM leaders are facing much flak from other hill parties for their alleged opportunism, their critics including Binay Tamang, the new face of the presently divided house of the GJM. Their erstwhile colleague and now leader of the Kalimpong-centred Jan Andolan Party (JAP) Harka Bahadur Chhetri, too has been gunning for the Giri-Gurung combo.

With Tamang and his other senior GJM colleague Anik Thapa currently in negotiations with the state government to end the stalemate, the TMC has succeeded in rendering the position or Gurung very vulnerable.

At their recent meetings in Siliguri and Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the GJM pro-talk leaders agreed on the adoption of preliminary measures like re-opening of offices, puja advances for the hard-hit local people and immediate relief for workers of over 70 tea plantations closed during the strike.

As a result there has occurred a substantial improvement in the situation, confusing as it remains. Shops, schools, markets, banks and other establishments are slowly resuming work, but pockets of GJM-sponsored resistance remain all over the area, and sudden disruptions of normal life have continued.

However, the hold of the GJM hardliners, while generally slipping, still has some impact in Darjeeling, if not at Mirik, Kalimpong or Kurseong. Tourism-related offices report that inquiries from other states about the present situation have resumed. ‘But as of now, we have both a bandh on paper and no bandh unofficially, a shopkeeper in Darjeeling has been quoted as telling the local media.

Does the state government deserve any credit? Hardly. The GJM agitation seems to be dying a natural death because of the ill-advised militancy shown by the inept GJM extremist leaders, who are now regarded as a burden by other hill parties. The TMC government, whether out of fear or a tactical sense, hardly moved a muscle to help improve either the present situation or take any initiative at all. What really helped Kolkata’s cause was the unexpected indifference to the Gorkhaland “struggle’ shown by the central government, which caught the GJM entirely unprepared.

The BJP government has its own reasons for not leaping to the aid of the GJM and its call for a separate state. The Union Home Ministry reportedly has comprehensive reports on the illegal wealth acquired over the years by some GJM leaders and their obvious patronage in Nepal. 'While not all hill-based leaders are unreliable, some are definitely more so than others', according to a Delhi-based security analyst. With Indo-Nepalese relations being not always cordial and turning more complex than before, Delhi can hardly endorse the call for a new state so close to its border with China or the sensitive Northeast region. (IPA Service)