Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday met senior hill leaders at a hotel in Sukna in the Darjeeling foothills, on the final day of his three-day north Bengal visit.
The meeting is expected to address the agenda of finding a "permanent political solution" to the long-standing issues of Darjeeling hills within the ambit of constitutional framework, officials said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was present at the meeting, which was also attended by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung, and the party's senior leader Roshan Giri, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Mann Ghisingh, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, several state ministers and BJP MLAs from the hills, besides senior officials of the state government.
The meeting is expected to focus on the BJP's pre-poll promise of a "permanent political solution" for the Gorkha community and other residents of the hills who have, for decades, demanded a separate Gorkhaland state.
Attempts made by previous state governments to address the issue through arrangements such as the establishment of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) have, arguably, failed to secure long-term peace, economic prosperity and political stability in the region.
(With inputs from PTI)
