Anit Thapa, the president of Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), looked to stump the hill Opposition on the tea garden land issue by proposing a joint meeting with his opponents on it.

Thapa, who also helms the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), while addressing a public meeting in Darjeeling on Sunday proposed a discussion on the land issue with the Opposition but also reminded people that he was working "closely with the state government".

“I call upon all the leaders, of the joint Forum, the (Chia) Suraksha Samiti. Let us discuss the type of patta we would want for the tea gardens. I request you to call a meeting between (October) 1 to 10, I will come to the meeting. If you want me to call a meeting I will call.... This is an issue of the people and we must rise above politics,” said Thapa, adding that he was not looking at taking the leadership mantle in this initiative.

The Joint Forum is an apex body of over 20 tea trade unions except the BGPM and Trinamul. The Chia Suraksha Samiti is an association that raises tea garden workers-centric issues.

Thapa and his party initially supported the Bengal government’s decision to grant 5 decimals of land to tea garden residents of north Bengal.

However, with Opposition parties demanding that the entire land under a resident’s possession be granted, Thapa also made a U-turn sensing that the Opposition's stand was gaining ground with people in the hills. He asked district magistrates in the GTA area to halt land surveys and wrote to state chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi on this issue.

The state halted work on the distribution of tea land for the moment.

Thapa’s U-turn did manage to contain a sticky situation for his party, the BGPM. The party further announced Sunday's public meeting in Darjeeling under the slogan — My Land, My Right — to take the land issue from the Opposition’s grip.

BGPM supporters at the public meeting in Darjeeling on Sunday The Telegraph

On Sunday, taking the ball to the Opposition’s court, Thapa said the demands of all the hill political leaders were the same. “Our fight is the same, it is to truly return our land,” he said.

But he also tried to say that while all hill leaders wanted the same thing, only Thapa could successfully take the issue up with the state government.

“To take up this issue with the government will be my responsibility. I am working closely with the state government. People have also elected me to the post of the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. I also your (Opposition leaders’) chief executive, whether you agree or not,” said Thapa.

Opposition leaders did not react immediately to Thapa's statements.

Suraj Subba of the Joint Forum said: “We will have to discuss among ourselves before commenting. We are not against land pattas but only against the distribution of 5 decimal homestead pattas. We expect all to rise above politics on this issue.”

Pratap Khati, a well-known hill politician who backs the Chia Suraksha Samiti, did not take calls from this newspaper.