GNLF chief Subash Ghising tenders his resignation

Zee News Bureau 

Darjeeling, March 10: Bucking under intense pressure from his political opponents Subash Ghising, chief of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, on Monday tendered his resignation to the Darjeeling District Magistrate over the Gorkhaland status row. The GNLF chief was last week ousted from the Darjeeling Hills by Bimal Gurung`s Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, and Ghising in a bid to stem the revolt against him had renewed the demand for the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state. 

Changing track the GNLF leader recently reverted to his old demand for a separate Gorkhaland state to be carved out of the region and certain areas contiguous to it and sought a dialogue with the Centre on the issue. 

Last week a delegation of senior GNLF leaders led by Ghising went on to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and pressed for continuing dialogues on the statehood issue between the Centre and parties. The GNLF leadership has also dropped their demand for the grant of Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills that Ghising has been pursuing since 2005. 

Ghising’s resignation is a fallout of troubles created by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which considers the GNLF chief it's a principal political adversary. The GJM is also lobbying in the national capital for the Gorkhaland cause. A delegation of senior GJM leaders led by the party’s chief, Bimal Gurung, met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and emphasized the need for Subash Ghisingh to resign by March 10 as the people have rejected him.