According to an announcement made by the GJM leadership, Gorkha youth volunteers will start the relay hunger strike in three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, along with several other places in the plains including Siliguri and Kalchini.

The GJM had suspended its agitation temporarily, responding to an appeal from various political quarters, including Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, BJP leader L K Advani and former Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

On December 21, a tripartite talk was held in Darjeeling, during which the Morcha leadership made it clear that they were not interested in anything but a separate state and wanted a “political-level talk”, not an administrative one. The Union home secretary had agreed to the proposal saying that the Centre would get in touch with the different stakeholders at the political level and get back to the GJM on the issue within 45 days.

Meanwhile, a bandh called by Adivasi Vikas Parishad in Dooars and Terai regions in the Himalayan foothills from December 27, has been called off. It was called off in view of the fact that the tripartite meeting did not come out with anything concrete.