Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday complimented West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung for making the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement possible.
"Today I stand witness to the historic events when years of conflict have been brought to an end by the vision of two people - Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and my good friend of two-and-a-half years Bimal Gurung," he said at the accord-signing function.
"I compliment them both. They have shown great will, sagacity and farsight and above all, love and compassion," Chidambaram said. He also thanked local Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jaswant Singh on the occasion.
Thousands of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters, who assembled at Pintail village, where the GTA agreement was signed, greeted Chidambaram's comments with thunderous applause and roaring cheers.
While conveying the good wishes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to the people of Darjeeling, he said, "They would all have loved to be here on this occasion, but you understand the difficulty of so many people being here at the same time."
