The crisis meeting at Alimuddin Street comes even as the LF’s call for an all-party meeting on June 17 runs into heavy weather following the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress’ preconditions for attending the meeting.

But apart from the pressure from the opposition, a discernable divide has developed within the Front, with other partners allegedly unhappy with the way big brother CPM has handled the issue.

The Forward Bloc said today that talks with the GJM should take place without any precondition and the chief minister should lead a delegation to Darjeeling for the return of peace.

“The Central government too, must properly discharge its responsibilities,” Bloc’s state general secretary Ashok Ghosh said.

Asked if his party supported the demand for a separate Gorkhaland, Ghosh said formation of smaller states did not solve problems of economic development and removal of the poverty — Jharkhand being “a glaring example”.

He said the state government should start “real people-oriented planning” and work on priority for the development of North Bengal including the hill areas of Darjeeling and Dooars.

He said his party would soon hold a convention in Siliguri to try to establish peace and amity between the people of the hill and plains.

The CPI too, blamed the CPM for the issue ballooning out of control. The party’s state secretary Manjukumar Majumdar said the situation could have been “handled with more tact” by the CPM.

RSP leader and state PWD minister Kshiti Goswami said the lack of seriousness was evident on the part of the CPM leadership. “They (the CPM) should try to find the root of the reason for the current spate of violence in Darjeeling,” Goswami said.

West Bengal PCC president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, meanwhile, said the Centre has ruled out any division of West Bengal for creating a separate Gorkhaland, and is eager to resolve the ongoing crisis through dialogue and non-violent means. “We will try to solve the issue within the ambit of the Darjeeling Hill Council (DGHC) and see to it that the state’s territorial integrity is intact,” Dasmunsi said.

Earlier, he had said that the Central government had positive expectations regarding the outcome of the all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on June 17 in a bid to find a solution by consensus.

Piling on the pressure, the Trinamool Congress said the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which is spearheading the protest in the hills, should also be invited to the meeting and not be asked to attend a separate one alone with the government next day. If the Trinamool stays away from the meeting, it would only be attended by LF partners and the Congress. But already, Left partners too, have began murmuring against the CPM.