Amit Shah will hold key meetings in Siliguri on border security and the Darjeeling hills issue. The talks could shape the Centre’s approach to the Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken’s Neck, and a long-promised political settlement.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to hold a series of meetings in Siliguri on Saturday, with the security of the strategically important Siliguri Corridor – also known as Chicken’s Neck – and a “permanent political solution” to the long-standing issues of the Darjeeling hills expected to dominate the agenda. The meetings will take place on the final day of his three-day visit to Bengal.
According to his official itinerary, Shah will chair two back-to-back meetings from 11 am at the hotel where he is staying in Sukna on the outskirts of Siliguri town. He is likely to leave for Delhi from Bagdogra airport at around 2.30 pm.
Sources said Shah will review border security, with a focus on coordination among the BSF, SSB, intelligence agencies and the state administration. The meeting is significant because of Siliguri’s proximity to the international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and the importance of the narrow corridor that connects the Northeast with the rest of the country.
The Home Minister is also likely to meet elected representatives and political leaders from the Darjeeling hills to discuss the region’s long-pending political issues, though there was no official confirmation of this meeting. The discussion is expected to focus on the BJP’s pre-poll promise of a “permanent political solution” for the Gorkha community and other residents of the hills.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and the party’s general secretary Roshan Giri are among the leaders expected to attend the meeting. BJP Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, state ministers and legislators from the hills are also likely to take part.
The Darjeeling hills have for decades seen demands for a separate Gorkhaland state. Earlier governments had tried to address the issue through arrangements such as the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. During the 2026 Assembly election campaign, Shah had promised a “permanent political solution”, raising expectations among hill-based political groups for long-term peace and economic and political stability in the region.
Saturday’s meetings come after Shah’s engagements in Siliguri on Friday, when he visited the Sashastra Seema Bal Frontier Headquarters, inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several infrastructure projects, and reviewed border security arrangements. He also inaugurated an exhibition on the three new criminal laws at Kawakhali.