Politics
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Shah meeting sets Gorkha solution committee
News on Air··23 Aug
On 22 August 2026 in Sukna, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Gorkha leaders on a permanent political solution for the Darjeeling hills. The Home Ministry said a committee headed by interlocutor Pankaj Kumar Singh will draft the agreement. Shah said any solution would stay inside the Constitution.
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What It Means For You
- If you live in the Darjeeling hills, Terai or Dooars, Saturday's outcome is a drafting committee under the Home Ministry, not a notification creating a new state.
- Anyone following GTA or hill-council work should note Shah also said central funds would be used for pending hill projects, separate from the political draft.
- If you travel through Siliguri, the same visit included a security review of the Corridor with the BSF and Sashastra Seema Bal, not only the Gorkha talks.
What's Happening
- The meeting was held on the third and last day of Shah's West Bengal visit, at a resort in Sukna on the Darjeeling foothills.
- Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, IB Director Mahesh Dikshit and several Gorkha MLAs also sat in the room after Adhikari spoke.
- Giri told reporters the Gorkha side had placed its issues and would work through constitutional means after the committee was announced.
Why 22 August Was Chosen For The Hill Talks
- The 1988 accord created the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council; the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration followed in 2011.
- Gorkha groups have sought a Gorkhaland state covering the hills and adjoining areas since the 1980s.
- A proposed triangular security grid for the Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh borders was discussed in the separate Sukna security meeting.
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