India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Darjeeling Council : Ghising appointed care-taker administrator

	March 28, 2005

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has appointed Chairman of the Darjeeling Hill Council Subhash Ghising as care-taker administrator of the Council for six months.

Ghising will be responsible for running an interim arrangement in the region till elections are held for a new council. The Chief Minister said that he was left with no alternative but to settle for this arrangement for the sake of peace. He said the government does not want to have any confrontation in the region, particularly in the wake of the developments in Nepal.

The Hill Council term expired on March 26 but Ghising has been clamouring for a deferment of the electoral process until his demand for an alternative council with greater powers is met. He had also been insisting on being given full charge of any interim administrative arrangement in the Darjeeling Hills till then. The Chief Minister appears to have accepted Ghising’s demand on the persuasion of the Centre. Bhattacharjee said that the state government is determined to ensure that polls for the new council are held within six months.