Mamata plays Rajbanshi card against GJM Nepali move

MAYNAGURI (JALPAIGURI): The Hills and foothills are turning out to be a chessboard for identity politics.
With the Left and Congress eyeing a tacit understanding with Bimal Gurung's Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to corner votes in Nepali settlements, chief minister Mamata Banerjee is trying to checkmate them by wooing the adivasi plantation labourers and Rajbanshi community across Jalpaiguri district.
And it's clear Mamata is pulling out all the stops. At Churabhandar in Maynaguri on Thursday, the chief minister hinted that her government was ready to grant recognition to Rajbanshi language - an age-old demand of the community. Brandishing the community card, she hopes to charm the Maynaguri and Dhupguri assembly constituencies, both of which are reserved for SC candidates.
"We have received a proposal (recognition of language) from the Rajbanshi Academy, which we set up after coming to power in 2011. We are considering it seriously. It is only a matter of time before the demand is met," Mamata said to cheers from the crowd of 15,000 - mostly Rajbanshis, who make up the majority in Churabhandar.
But Birpara portrayed a rather starkly different picture. The population here - mainly Nepali and other tribal communities - seemed to have become immune to the firebrand Mamata charm. Instead, they have apparently vested their faith in Bimal Gurung. Such is the disinterest that when Mamata started off the day with her Birpara meeting, there was hardly any crowd at the venue. The sparse attendance apparently forced the Trinamool chief to postpone her speech by 40 minutes, during which local leaders addressed the audience.
When she finally stood up to speak, the large ground held barely 2,000 spectators. Apparently not bothered about the thin crowd, the Bengal CM claimed the government was all set to auction five tea estates in Birpara, including Bundapani. Political experts believe the announcement was made to woo tea workers.
In October 2014, the Bengal government had cancelled the lease of four tea gardens in the Dooars - Red Bank, Surendra Nagar, Dharanipur and Bundapani. It's a sensitive issue here. Tea industry experts, however, rejected Mamata's announcement, pointing out that only the central government can auction gardens. "The state government can, at the most, cancel the lease of the gardens. Putting them up for auction is in the hands of the Union government," a tea official said.