GJM not worried over TMC's rise in strength in Darjeeling

, Jun 13: With the ruling

(TMC) in

floating a unit in the Darjeeling hills, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (

) leader Harka Bahadur Chhetri said on Wednesday that it would not affect the prospects of his party in the hills. "Rather, it will hit the ruling party hard," Chhetri, the GJM spokesperson said, cautioning the TMC that those who had joined the party would prove to be a liability for it in the long run.

"They are political renegades. The ruling party will not become stronger by inducting turncoats," Chhetri said about the joining of 1,000 political members, including three former Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) councillors and All India Gorkha League (AIGL) and GJM leaders, in the TMC on Jun 11 in the presence of North Bengal Development Minister Goutam Deb. "However, everyone has a right to join any political party in a functioning democracy," he added. On the Shyamal Sen committee report, he said that his party has already rejected it and his party would meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Jun 16 in Kolkata on the issue.

PTI