Representatives of the Trinamool Congress and BJP who came to attend the meeting as part of the Democratic Front, however, did not join it after receiving instructions from their leadership. The outfits that were invited but did not attend the meeting included the GNLF and CPRM.

The organisations that were given the proposals were requested by the state government to submit their reply by August 6. “We have distributed the proposals on the interim arrangement for Darjeeling among them and have requested them to get back to us within August 6, as we will have to submit our reply on the proposals to the Centre within August 9,” Health and Family Welfare Minister Surya Kanta Mishra, who led the state government team, said after the meeting.

However, the Darjeeling parties turned down the proposals, saying they amounted to a mere ad hoc arrangement and could not meet the aspirations of the people of Darjeeling. “We rejected the proposals as they were not acceptable to us. We want a permanent solution and not a temporary one. When somebody is seriously ill, you do not give him just pain killers. You need to administer a holistic treatment to him. We have told the government that the situation in the hills is not conducive for talks. There is no democracy, no peace. It is just hooliganism and goondaraj prevailing there. Unless that situation ends, there cannot be any talks,” Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League Working President Dawa Sherpa said after the meeting.

Some of the parties also raised the demand for Gorkhaland, which the government said was not possible. “We have told them that Gorkhaland is a sentiment of the people of the hills and we do not deny it. But is it feasible?” asked Ashok Bhattacharya after the meeting.