In a double blow for Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Trinamool Congress said it will stay away from an all-party meeting called on June 17, while Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung rejected call for a one-to-one meeting, saying the government’s invitation made no mention of a separate state for Gorkhas. “We cannot attend such a meeting,” Gurung said.

Earlier, confusion prevailed in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, as it made arrangements for the all-party meeting, with opinion divided on whether the GJM should be invited. Around 3 pm, Bhattacharjee came up with the formula that he will talk to Gurung separately.

While 16 political parties, including the GNLF, were shortlisted for the June 17 meeting, a letter was sent to Gurung inviting him for talks on June 18. “I shall be happy if you and your colleagues in the GJM can come to Kolkata to discuss measures needed to restore normalcy and speed up execution of development works in the hills and related subjects,” the Chief Minister wrote in the letter to Gurung.

Bhattacharjee also talked about the violence and clashes in Darjeeling and large areas of Dooars and said the state government was doing all it could to restore normalcy.

The services of paramilitary forces have been requisitioned and the Army has been advised to stay on alert, the letter said.

He appealed to Gurung and his colleagues to refrain from agitations in the hills of Darjeeling and other areas and to cooperate with the district administration in maintaining law and order and providing security to the life and property of the people. “I firmly believe that grievances, if any, of the Morcha can always be discussed threadbare across the table, and solutions acceptable to all can be found,” he said. In Siliguri, shops remained closed and almost all vehicles off roads, as security force personnel patrolled the streets. Non-Gorkha residents continued to leave for the plains. Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling, Rahul Srivastava insisted that the situation was normal, with trucks loaded with food and other essential commodities moving towards the hills freely.