Kolkata: The crucial talks between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Thursday failed with the state government turning down the GJM's demand for holding rallies in Dooars.
"The Chief Minister told them it will not be proper to hold meeting or rallies till the situation in the Dooars normalised," Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters after the talks for which he was also present.
"Tension still prevails and holding meetings or rallies will escalate it," he said.
There were clashes recently between the GJM, which wanted inclusion of Dooars in the proposed Gorkhaland state, and tribals.
The Chief Minister requested the GJM to withdraw its agitation and discuss its demands at the ongoing tripartite talks.
Meanwhile, GJM President Bimal Gurung, who led a 7-member delegation for the talks, said that the hunger-strike at Garubathan in north Bengal's Dooars, adjacent to Darjeeling district would continue.
Speaking in Nepali, he said the GJM has called a 24-hour bandh in Darjeeling district and Dooars on February 7 to protest the "atrocities" against tribals at Lalgarh in West Midnapore district and suppression of democratic rights.
