GJM leaders meet Shinde on Gorkhaland issue

On a day West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated that the Darjeeling hills would not be separated from the plains in West Bengal, a delegation of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders met Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi on Tuesday and threatened to launch a widespread movement if the Centre considers Telangana and ignores the Gorkhaland demand.

The four-member delegation also met Defence Minister A.K. Anthony and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

The Ministers assured the GJM team that the matter would be taken up for discussions, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told

The Hindu over telephone from New Delhi.

Addressing an election rally at Falakata in the State’s Jalpaiguri district in north Bengal, Ms. Banerjee claimed that the hills and the foothills are both smiling.