The talks between the Bengal government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) scheduled for January 31 have been postponed avowedly because of the upcoming budget session of the Assembly.

GTA chief executive Anit Thapa had earlier said the meeting would be held with the Bengal chief secretary in Calcutta on Friday (January 31) on topics like education and health.

On Friday, Rajesh Chauhan, the deputy speaker of the GTA Sabha, said: “The meeting has been postponed as senior officials are busy with the budget.”

Bengal’s budget session is set to start on February 10 with governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s address. Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya is likely to present the budget on February 12.

Soon after the date of the bipartite meeting had been announced, a GTA Sabha member and a former head of the hill body, Binay Tamang, had expressed apprehension regarding the talks. “I am not opposing the meeting but being someone who has had an inside view of how things work at that level, questions do arise on the timing of the bipartite talks,” said Tamang.

Tamang said he suspected that the date of the talks had been announced to counter the possible tripartite meeting the Centre was likely to convene on Darjeeling issues.