West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (Partha Paul)
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked the people of Darjeeling to bring peace in the hills so that her government can bring prosperity there in return. Addressing the first-ever business meet in Darjeeling organised by the state government, Banerjee said, “We have the duty to see that there should not be any violence. If you want to raise your voice I have no problem as our government is always willing to discuss the matter. Earlier, nobody took care of Darjeeling. Now I come to north Bengal twice a month. Even I don’t nurture my own constituency the way I nurture you people. Sometimes I cannot satisfy every individual but collectively we can do more. Collectively we can satisfy more. If you give us peace, we will give you prosperity. That is our commitment. That is our assurance.”
The chief minister added, “For this purpose if somebody has to bell the cat then let me bell the cat.” The state government has organised a two-day business meet in Darjeeling to boost economic activities in the hills. Speaking on the first day of the meet, Banerjee said it was imperative to maintain peace in the hills to attract investment there and asked the central government not to divide Darjeeling for some seats.
“Our first task will be to maintain peace in Darjeeling. If peace is not there then industrialists will not invest here. Please see that there should not be any violence. If you do violence then some political leaders might gain but people of Darjeeling will not gain. There should be a competition for development purpose as we do not want to see a competition on spilling blood. I will make only one appeal to Delhi. Let Darjeeling be happy and don’t help anyone divide the Darjeeling. We want to maintain friendship with everyone. We will not allow the division of Darjeeling for some seats and political purpose because Darjeeling is our heart and we love its people,” she said.