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Kolkata, Nov 17 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday once again wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the central government’s decision to appoint former Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) and former Director General of the Border Security Force Pankaj Kumar Singh as the interlocutor for trilateral talks on a permanent political solution to the long-standing demand of a separate Gorkhaland state, excluding parts of the hills and plans of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. Have protested. Terai and Dooars region in North Bengal.
This is the second letter sent by the Chief Minister to Prime Minister Modi regarding the objections of the state government on this issue.
Earlier on October 18 this year, Chief Minister Banerjee had sent her first letter in this matter to the Prime Minister.
In the letter written on Monday, the Chief Minister also accused the Union Home Ministry of ignoring his previous objections in the matter by allowing the interlocutor’s office to start functioning.
“Please refer to my letter dated October 18, 2025, requesting you to reconsider and cancel the appointment of a retired IPS officer as the interlocutor for issues related to Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills, which your office immediately accepted and advised the Union Home Minister to look into. It is a matter of grave concern that, without any prior communication in response to my letter and despite your intervention, under the Ministry of Home Affairs The Office of the Negotiator has done so, the letter said, adding that the Office of the Negotiator has already started functioning.
In the letter, the Chief Minister had described the development as a “unilateral” and “arbitrary” move on the part of the Central government which, according to him, was completely unconstitutional and devoid of any legal sanctity.
“The said order has no basis in the Constitution of India or any valid statutory provision,” the Chief Minister claimed in his letter.
According to Chief Minister Banerjee, the appointment of an interlocutor to deal with issues already governed by valid state law was a blatant encroachment on the federal structure of the country and also an attack on the autonomy of West Bengal.
“Such actions strike at the core of cooperative federalism, which is one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution,” the chief minister’s letter said.
He had also accused the Central Government of not furnishing any explanation or jurisdiction for this extraordinary and unreasonable step.
–IANS
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