Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of Bharat Chamber of Commerce held here, Mukherjee said: “They (the Centre, the state and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) held talks and they will meet again. In a democratic country, no problem can be solved without a dialogue and that process has begun.”

The minister has been opposed to a separate state of Gorkhaland.

On December 21, the Centre, the state government and the GJM held tripartite talks in Darjeeling after which the GJM demanded that the next phase of talks be held at a political level. Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who led the central delegation, said they would inform the GJM about their decision in 45 days.

The GJM refused to comment on Mukherjee’s statement. “I have not seen or heard what Mukherjee has said and I cannot make any comment on that. However, all our agitational programmes stand,” said Amar Lama, a senior GJM leader.

Later, Mukherjee urged his party leaders in North Bengal to rally the masses against the demand for a separate statehood. After the announcement of a separate state of Telangana by the UPA government, several groups in the state have revived their demands for separate statehood. Among them are the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and the Rajbangshis.

Congress leaders including Deepa Dasmunsi and Deboprasad Roy and others from North Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, attended the meeting with the finance minister, who also heads the state Congress unit.

Mukherjee also held a meeting with state Congress general secretaries, including Pradip Bhattacharjee and Maya Ghosh, and discussed the law and order situation in the state. Bhattacharjee, who is the working president of the state Congress, said the Union minister was briefed about the violence and urged to lean on the state government to contain it. The Habra incident, where a Congress worker was killed on Sunday, was also discussed.

Buddha has Pranab’s word: Will sort out West Bengal’s woes
Lending a sympathetic ear to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee who complained that the Centre, especially Trinamool ministers in Delhi, were not paying heed to the troubles faced by major ports, jute and coal industries in the state, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today assured West Bengal these problems will be sorted out soon.

At the inaugural function of West Bengal Trade Fair, the chief minister said both the ports are in a bad condition due to additional silting. “We are in touch with the concerned ministry, but I would request Pranab Mukherjee to intervene into the matter,” the CM said. The CPM has been complaining that the Union shipping minister, who belongs to the Trinamool, is not doing anything about the issue.