Darjeeling, 31st May: A war of words has begun with the advent of Darjeeling MP Raju Bista in his constituency. While the MP accused the State government of failing to deal with the pandemic, opposition leaders highly condemned Bista for his remarks and counter charged him for being unavailable for two months.
On Friday, the MP wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing his attention to the urgent need to start more COVID-19 testing laboratories in the North Bengal region.
Replying to the statement of MP, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Chairman Anit Thapa, on Sunday, stated that the fight against coronavirus cannot be fought alone and that the GTA needs complete support from both the State and the Central governments. Thapa maintained that the GTA has showcased the commitment to fight against COVID-19 by transforming the Teesta Triveni tourist property into a SARI and COVID hospital.
The GTA Chairman offered to provide the infrastructures and all the required support to start the COVID-19 lab, if an official letter of request from the Centre is given. Thapa stated that the GTA will then immediately discuss the matter with the state and expedite the work on the infrastructure setup.The GTA Chairman further appealed to Bista to not make ‘faux promises and build false hope to people of the Hills’.
“..if the Central Government was not in a position to start a COVID lab by themselves then why did he have to create an act of writing a letter to the PM for a testing lab,” the GTA Chairman charged.
A testing lab in the Hills is very crucial at the moment, especially when over 4000 people have returned back to the Hills. The GTA Chairman further advised the MP to fulfill the demand of setting up a COVID-19 testing lab in the Darjeeling Hills immediately.
“Raju Bista jiu time to rise from politics and serve the people of the hills,” Thapa nudged.