KOLKATA: A day before his scheduled meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss matters of concern in the Hills, GJM faction chief Binoy Tamang on Monday ruled out any possibility of sharing a platform with his rival and Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung.
Tamang, before boarding a flight to Kolkata, told reporters in Siliguri that Gurung was a fugitive and any association with him was improbable.
"We are not sharing any administrative and political platform with Gurung. He has been charged with so many cases, almost 150 cases, including some under the UAPA. How can we have any association with him?" Tamang said.
Gurung, who had been in hiding for three years, resurfaced in Kolkata on October 21 and pledged support to the TMC, after quitting the NDA, triggering discontent among the Tamang faction which had always backed the Mamata Banerjee party in the past.
Rallies were taken out in the Hills by the Tamang faction opposing Gurung's entry since October 22, prompting the fugitive leader's loyalists to organise counter rallies welcoming him.
Staunch Tamang supporter and GTA chairman Anit Thapa would also be present at the state secretariat meeting on Tuesday, a TMC leader said.
"Yes, a meeting has been called by the CM at the state secretariat tomorrow, where Tamang and Thapa would be present. We are sure everyone will back the CM's initiative to develop and beautify the Darjeeling hills in the interest of its people," he added.