West Bengal writes to Centre on Sikkim CM's remarks

Kolkata: The state government on Friday sent a letter to Union home minister Rajnath Singh voicing its protest against the way Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling echoed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s (GJM) demand for a separate state.

Mr Chamling had written a letter to the union home minister on Thursday and backed the demand of the GJM, claiming the move would restore peace in the Hills. The state government has sought the home ministry’s prompt intervention in the matter.

Sources in the state secreteriat Nabanna said that parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee had written the letter to Mr Singh on behalf of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is presently in Hague, Netherlands to attend an United Nations programme.

“Mr Chatterjee has written that the Sikkim chief minister’s letter to the Union home minister has surpassed the constitutional limits and is against the national integrity of the country. He has pointed out that Darjeeling is entirely the state’s issue and it is undesirable on the part of Mr Chamling to interfere in the affairs of another state,” a Nabanna source said.

Questioning the remarks of Mr Chamling, Mr Chatterjee stated a state should behave in a more responsible way.