Tag: Binoy Tamang

Darjeeling: Amid Changed Political Equation, All Eyes on Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Polls

Out of the 277 candidates in the 45 constituencies of the GTA, 171 are independent candidates – the highest ever. Parties have alleged that the independents are ‘proxy candidates’ fielded by those who have stayed away from the polls.

Darjeeling: “The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) elections are to be held. What will be the fate of parties not taking part,” wondered Anil Tamang, a taxi driver, breaking into a conversation with passengers, driving up the serpentine road to Darjeeling from the plains of Siliguri, in the northern part of West Bengal.

Similar questions have been doing the rounds in the Darjeeling hills from the time Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) had filed a writ petition at the Calcutta high court on May 10 praying for a stay of the GTA elections and challenging the constitutional validity of the GTA. Political outfits like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies had been pinning their hope on the stay to give them the much required political leverage in the hills.

However, on June 24, the Calcutta high court gave a nod to the GTA elections as per schedule. The high court order said that there is no bar in the counting process or declaration of results.

GNLF, an ally of the BJP, dubbed the GTA “unconstitutional,” and had declared non-participation in the electoral process. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), an ally of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), too had demanded that the GTA elections be deferred.

However, political parties including the Hamro Party (HP), Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM,) Communist Party of India (Marxist), TMC and the Indian National Congress are all in the fray. These political parties opine that till the GTA is in existence, an elected sabha at the helm of affairs would ensure development in the hills.

Out of the 277 candidates in the 45 constituencies of the GTA, 171 are independent candidates – the highest ever. Political parties contesting the elections have alleged that these 171 independents are mostly “proxy candidates” fielded by those parties that have officially stayed away from the polls.

Being held after a gap of 10 years, the GTA elections are being seen as a battle between the newly formed HP and the BGPM. While HP is going to the polls with the ‘Parivartan‘ (change) mantra, the BGPM is focussed on the ‘Vavishya Nirman’ (constructing a bright future) line.

Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards (inside the vehicle) on the campaign trail. Photo: Author provided

Both the parties were launched less than a year ago. The HP won the Darjeeling civic body polls in March this year, barely within three months of coming into existence.

Formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration

The GNLF led by Subash Ghising had launched an agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland in 1986, leading to the loss of many lives. After 28 months of agitation culminating in a 40-day long bandh, the Centre, state and the GNLF worked out a solution in the form of an administrative body called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

Later, disgruntled GNLF leader, Bimal Gurung, floated the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on October 7, 2007. The GJM managed to oust Ghising and the GNLF from the hills. They resurrected the Gorkhaland agitation. After rounds of talks between the GJM, state and Centre, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) took shape in 2012, thereby replacing the DGHC.

The GTA is a semi autonomous developmental body that comprises 45 constituencies with the hills of Darjeeling and the Kalimpong districts under its control.

Election to the GTA

The first GTA election was held in July 2012. During the polls, the GJM had fielded 45 candidates, CPI(M) had 13 candidates, and the TMC had fielded 17 candidates.

However, the CPI(M) later withdrew the names of all 13 candidates saying that the entire election process was “one-sided.” With only 17 TMC candidates along with one independent candidate remaining in the fray, the GJM won uncontested in 28 constituencies .

Later, TMC also withdrew all the 17 candidates from the GTA election. On July 21, 2012, TMC chief Mamata Banerje declared that the TMC was politically withdrawing from the GTA elections; a normal withdrawal wasn’t possible after July 12, 2012 – the last date of withdrawal.

With this sudden “political” withdrawal, it was a cakewalk for the GJM. The political party managed to win all 17 seats on July 29, 2012.

In June 2017, the Gurung-led GJM spawned an agitation for over 100 days, declaring that the TMC-led West Bengal government would forcefully impose Bengali language in the hills. Gurung, along with 42 elected and nominated members of the GJM, tendered their resignations from the GTA.

A joint movement was launched along with other pro-Gorkhaland forces. At least 11 people were killed in police firing during the agitation.

The GJM turned to the BJP-led Union Government for respite; however, no such political space was provided by the party so that the agitation could be retracted.

In September that year, senior GJM leaders Binoy Tamang and Anit Thapa were expelled from the party for alleged ‘anti-party’ activities. The economy was already in doldrums following the long agitation and a 105-day bandh. The term of the GTA had expired on July 30.

As it was not conducive to hold elections, the Bengal government appointed a nine-member ‘Board of Administrators’, headed by expelled GJM leader Binoy Tamang, to run the GTA in the hill areas.

Since the mass resignation of the GTA sabha members in 2017, the administrative boards with Tamang as the chairperson and Thapa as the vice-chairman have been running the GTA.

After holding a successful Darjeeling civic body election in February this year, the state government decided to go ahead with the GTA election. On March 28, during her visit to Darjeeling, chief minister Mamata Banerjee met with different hill political parties and gathered a consensus for holding GTA elections. She even assured that the GTA elections would be followed by Panchayat elections in the hills.

On May 27, the West Bengal government issued a notification saying that the GTA would be going to polls on June 26. Opposing the GTA elections, Bimal Gurung immediately launched a fast unto death.

“Things are going to be different this time. Earlier the party in power in the hills used to ensure the victory of any candidate they fielded. It was a cakewalk. Now things have changed. The voters weigh things carefully and vote. The political parties have realised this also. They cannot take people for a ride anymore,” said a tea garden worker, requesting anonymity.

BJP’s rise and survival in the region

The BJP had started its political journey in Bengal in 2009 having tied up with the GJM. It has been winning the Darjeeling Lok Sabha since 2009, thanks to the alliance with the GJM in 2009 and 2014 and the alliance with one faction of the GJM and GNLF in 2019.

From there they have steadily made inroads into Bengal politics.

The eight districts of North Bengal have always been a fertile ground for the saffron brigade’s expansion plans in the state. They bagged seven out the eight parliamentary seats in North Bengal in 2019.

In the hills, the saffron brigade’s parliamentary election manifesto had promised a permanent political solution for the Gorkhas along with the inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribe list.

Despite losing the state assembly elections in Bengal, the BJP appears to hold sway in North Bengal. Out of the 54 seats in the last assembly elections in North Bengal, 31 fell in the BJP’s kitty; 22 went to the TMC and one to an independent candidate.

The saffron brigade started toying with the idea of carving out North Bengal into a separate state or a Union Territory. BJP leaders and public representatives from this region started fanning the idea, hinged on socio-economic, political and security issues.

Also read: Can North Bengal Afford Another Political Unrest Even as Bjp Fuels Statehood Demand?

However, with the party’s performance in the recently held Darjeeling civic body polls, it appears that the hills seem disillusioned with the saffron brigade. BJP and its allies failed to secure even a single seat out of 32.

“They are afraid that the same fate is in store for them in the GTA elections. This is why the GNLF [an ally of the BJP] hurriedly filed a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the GTA and praying for a stay. They know that people have stopped buying their false assurances,” said Anit Thapa, president, BGPM.

“The GTA has been rejected by the masses. It is an obstacle to the fulfillment of the aspiration of the masses,” claimed Raju Bista, BJP MP from the Darjeeling constituency.

A cold shoulder

After absconding for three years, Gurung returned to the hills in October 2021. He severed ties with long-time ally BJP, and announced his support to chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

However, the GJM’s dismal performance in the assembly elections put Gurung in a catch-22 situation. Along with losing all the three hill seats, Gurung and his associates failed to deliver even in Terai and Dooars. The TMC lost in all seats where Gurung had claimed to have a sway and had campaigned for the TMC.

After the Bengal government gave a go-ahead to the GTA polls, Gurung sat for a five-day-long fast, demanding that the state government should honour the GTA agreement in letter and spirit and demanding inclusion of 396 mouzas of Terai and the Dooars in the GTA.

“We will not be taking part in the GTA elections as our demands have not been met,” said Roshan Giri, general secretary, GJM.

Party in power in the GTA controls hill politics

“The party at the helm of the GTA controls hill politics. The party in power in the GTA will have an added advantage in the forthcoming hill elections, including the panchayat and three hill municipalities,” said a political observer, requesting anonymity.

“The BJP and allies will face a political vacuum post GTA election. What issue will they tow? Granting Scheduled Tribe status to 11 communities seems far fetched. The BJP-led Union government will not accord any new administrative arrangement before the 2024 parliamentary elections. They will then try to reap political dividends in the hills by creating a new administrative arrangement,” explained the political observer cited above.

Also read: Eyewash or Damage Control?: BJP Announces Talk on Gorkha Demand, Opposition Questions Motive

“The BJP and our alliance partners have done our best to put a stop to this farce of an election to the GTA that is being imposed by the TMC government purportedly through legal means,” said Raju Bista, BJP MP from Darjeeling.

He further alleged that the GTA is a tool used by the TMC government to keep the region deprived and subjugated, while making a handful of politicians and contractors rich.

“We want to assure the people that our struggle against illegal GTA has just begun. The high court’s verdict has only made our resolve stronger to ensure complete eradication of this unconstitutional GTA once and for all,” the MP added.

The GNLF has echoed similar sentiments. “The writ challenging the constitutional validity of the GTA still stands in court. We will knock on the doors of the Calcutta high court as soon as the elections are over,” said Sandeep Limbu of the GNLF.

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM), which is also an ally of the BJP, has given a clarion call to the hills not to participate in the poll process on June 26.

TMC plays defensive, keeps its options open

The TMC has fielded 10 candidates in the 45 seats. “Despite expansion of the TMC in the hills over the years, the party has preferred to keep options open to alliances rather than trying to bulldoze their way through. Whichever party wins will be treated as an alliance for the TMC,” said the political observer.

“We will work towards regularisation of voluntary teachers, adhoc staff of the GTA, granting of land documents in tea gardens, cinchona plantation and forest villages. Minimum wages for tea garden workers is also on the cards,” said Binoy Tamang, who joined hands with the TMC after severing ties with the BJP.

On June 14, the Bengal government announced a 15% interim hike in daily wages and salary of tea garden workers till the minimum wage is finalised for the tea industry of Bengal.

The Hamro Party factor

Floated on November 25, 2021 by Ajoy Edwards, the philanthropic entrepreneur and owner of the famous heritage bakery Glenary’s, Hamro Party has emerged as a force to reckon with. Within three months of coming into existence, the party bagged 18 out of 32 seats of the Darjeeling Municipality, forming the civic board.

A Hamro party election rally. Photo: Author provided

Edwards had parted ways with the GNLF alleging that the party had used him and then discarded him. With a strong social media team working round the clock, Hamro Party has a fan following, especially among the youngsters.

“People are looking at a fresh alternative without any past political smudges,” an HP insider told The Wire.

“We will weed out corruption and nepotism from the GTA. We want to gift good governance to the people of the Hills. The GTA has been a den of corruption and nepotism ever since it came to existence. All this needs to be rectified. Our aspiration is a separate state but till the GTA is there it has to be run properly. We have to have people who are accountable. Daily necessities like health, education and livelihood have to be given priority,” Edwards told The Wire.

The BGPM style of politics

The BGPM, earlier known as the GJM (Anit Thapa faction) has been at the helm of affairs in the GTA. They have a strong organisation, especially in the rural areas and tea gardens.

BGPM president Anit Thapa in an election rally. Photo: Author provided

“I have always spoken the truth and have given no false assurances. I have stressed on politics of reality moving away from politics of emotions. I put myself on the line to reinstate peace, democracy and normality during the 2017 agitation. I do not promise Gorkhaland but If voted to power we will definitely move a resolution for Gorkhaland in the GTA sabha. The GTA will carry forward the separate state aspiration,” said Thapa.

The BGPM plans to address issues related to livelihood, including land documents, employment generation, promotion of tourism, and regularisation of temporary staff of the GTA. They are contesting in 36 seats along with support from some independent candidates.

GTA profile

The GTA comprises 45 constituencies spread across the Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik sub-divisions of the Darjeeling district along with the entire Kalimpong district located in the northern part of the state of West Bengal. There are more than seven lakh voters in the region.

Out of the 922 polling stations, five polling stations have been marked as critical and 101 vulnerable. Shrikhola Primary School is the highest polling station in the state located at an altitude of 2,800 metre. It is 12 kilometre (km) away from the nearest settlement of Rimbik, having motorable links with Darjeeling. It is also considered the third-highest polling station in the country.

The furthest polling station is Tangta Primary School in the Kalimpong district where one has to traverse 133 km by vehicle from Kalimpong town and then walk 4 km. Both the Shrikhola and Tangta booths – where polling personnel have to leave two days ahead of the polls from the Distribution Centre – are known as P-2 booths.

A total of 4,700 polling personnel have been deployed to conduct the elections. The Indo-Nepal international border in West Bengal has been closed down from June 25 till June 26 midnight owing to the polls.

Polling will take place from 7 am to 4 pm on June 26. The weather office has issued a yellow alert (heavy rainfall) for this region for the polling day.

“All necessary arrangements have been made. We are equipped to tackle any eventuality,” said S. Ponnambalam, District Magistrate, Darjeeling. Disaster Management and Quick Response teams have been kept on standby.

Eyewash or Damage Control?: BJP Announces Talk on Gorkha Demand, Opposition Questions Motive

Under pressure, the BJP has announced tripartite talks for a permanent solution. But while this has eased the protests in the Hills, the opposition has pointed to the enormous delay in the process.

Darjeeling: Spurred by the fact that an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party conglomerate is fast taking shape in the Darjeeling Hills, along with pressure from its own allies, the BJP has switched onto damage control mode in the northernmost part of West Bengal.

They have hurriedly announced tripartite talks in the first week of September – talks which are supposedly aimed at initiating the process to resolve the Gorkhaland impasse.

The Wire has reported earlier how BJP’s marked failure to live up to commitments it has made since 2009 has resulted in the party receiving flak from key political camps in the Hills. The All India Gorkha League, the oldest political outfit of the Gorkhas, has launched a fast unto death demanding a clarification on the promised Permanent Political Solution and the inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribes list.

In addition, many political outfits have begun poster campaigns in the Hills questioning the sincerity of the BJP.

BJP’s calculated silence over AIGL’s fast-unto-death programme has also triggered the formation of a distinct anti-BJP front.

The dip in popularity led representatives of Hill allies of the BJP to make a beeline for New Delhi.

An unofficial meeting of a six-member delegation from the Hills, led by BJP’s Lok Sabha MP Raju Bista, with Union home minister Amit Shah, on August 6, has managed to buy some time for the party.

Also read: Anti-BJP Sentiments Stir Darjeeling Amidst Drastic Changes in Hill Party Equations

The delegation comprised BJP MLAs from Darjeeling and Kurseong, Niraj Zimba and BP Bajgain; Gorkha National Liberation Front President Mann Ghising; Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist president R.B. Rai and BJP Darjeeling (Hill) president Kalyan Dewan.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Bista called it the most “satisfying” and “fruitful” meeting. Bista said that the delegation had made an appeal to Shah for “official talks” – on the Gorkhaland solution – commence immediately and that the records of the meeting be published by the Press Information Bureau. 


“Home Minister Amit Shah has assured us that around August 12, the Home Ministry will dispatch letters to State Government, public representatives and various Hill parties. The Centre will also be represented in the talks. In the first week of September tripartite talks on Permanent Political Solution will commence,” stated Bista.

When questioned on what the PPS would be, Bista stated that as a Gorkha, his choice would be Gorkhaland.

“However as the meeting is being called by the Union home ministry, we will have to see what they have in mind,” he added.

The fast unto death 

S.P. Sharma, the 38-year-old general secretary of the AIGL launched a fast-unto-death from August 1 with the demand that Bista resign from the post of MP if he fails to clarify the BJP’s stand on PPS and the inclusion of Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribes list. AIGL has also demanded a deadline from Bista on the same.

With Bista’s statement, the fast-unto-death was lifted on August 6 evening. “It is people’s victory,” stated Sharma as he broke the fast on the sixth day. He stated that the AIGL wanted the PPS ball to roll and has now achieved the goal.

AIGL has claimed that BJP and its allies’ sudden decision to call a meeting is a pointer to the fact that pressure tactics worked. “It also proves the insincerity of MP Bista. Till now he had done nothing in this regard except raise the issue in the Zero Hour in parliament, which again is a futile exercise,” alleged Sharma.

Sharma claimed that had Bista and the BJP been sincere, they would have defined ‘PPS’ in the election manifesto in 2009 itself, instead of using the obscure term repeatedly. “Had the ‘PPS’ been defined, they would have had to table a Bill. The tripartite talks will be held to define the PPS and not to put it in place,” prophesied Sharma.

Pushing the ball in the Bengal government’s court

Thanking Bista and the Union government for initiating the tripartite talks, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, an ally of the BJP has conveniently pushed the ball in the West Bengal government’s court. 

“I hope that Mamata Banerjee and the government of West Bengal will wholeheartedly and actively participate in the talks keeping petty politics aside for the greater good of the people of Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars,” stated Ajoy Edwards, a frontline GNLF leader. 

He further stated that the onus now is on the allies of the Trinamool Congress to pressurise the government of West Bengal to actively participate in the talks. “If they fail to do this, the people of the Hills will know that the TMC has no good intentions for our people and place,” added Edwards. 

Why are tripartite talks needed?

The necessity of such talks is limited, contends the TMC.

“Why do we need talks? When BJP has already mentioned it in the election manifesto, they should start fulfilling it. There have been multiple assurances [from BJP] of holding tripartite meetings in the past but these meetings never saw the light of day,” countered N.B. Khawas, spokesperson of the TMC, Darjeeling. 

Hill political parties have questioned the need for tripartite talks now when the BJP did not need such talks to read down Article 370.

Also read: Two Years Without Article 370 Has Done Little to Benefit the People of J&K

“There have been more than two dozen tripartite talks held over the Gorkha crisis since 1988 but what did we get? We got nothing but stop-gap arrangements. BJP is master of deception and eye wash. All this is nothing but employment of time-buying tactics,” stated Keshav Raj Pokhrel, a spokesperson of the faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha headed by Anit Thapa.

He further remarked that if the BJP is sincere it should immediately include the 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the ST list and table a Bill for PPS. 

“The politics of convenience that BJP subscribes to can be clearly seen in their treatment of various state demands,” added Pokhrel. 

Parliament

While public representatives affiliated to the BJP from North Bengal including John Barla, Lok Sabha MP from Alipurduar and B.P. Bajgain, MLA, Kurseong, have been pressing for a separate state comprising eight districts of North Bengal, answers in Lok Sabha by the Minister of State of the Ministry of Home Affairs has made it evident that the BJP has no such plans at present.

On August 3, answering to questions raised by Dr. T.R. Paarivendhar and Ramalingam S. in Lok Sabha, as to whether the Union government has any proposal to bifurcate any state in the country, MHA MoS Nityanand Rai stated, “Presently no such proposal is under consideration.”

“This clearly puts a lid on the Gorkhaland demand and the Union Territory status too. The BJP has done nothing in all these years except fool the people of the Hills and consolidate votes with their political jargon. The eyewash continues,” claimed Prakash Gurung, president of the Youth Front of the GJM (Bimal faction).

Also read: BJP to Divide Bengal? Only on Our Terms, Say Leaders of 3 Identity-Based Movements

The demand for the inclusion of the 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the ST list has also met the same fate. “The BJP has always blamed the West Bengal government. However, questions raised by me in parliament regarding the recommendation made by West Bengal to include the 11 communities in the ST list, has exposed them,” said Shanta Chhetri, TMC Rajya Sabha MP.

The Rajya Sabha MP had raised the question of whether the Union government had received the proposal made by the government of West Bengal in the letter dated February 28, 2014 and whether the matter has been pending since 2014. Chhetri had also asked whether the Union government would make an urgent intervention to examine the above so that the communities can avail themselves of the benefits for their development and on the reasons for such an unprecedented delay.

Answering these questions, Minister for Tribal Welfare Renuka Singh Saruta stated that the West Bengal government had indeed recommended the inclusion of the sub-communities in the ST list.

 “The Government of India on 15.6.1999 (further amended on 25.6.2002) has laid down the modalities for deciding the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in Orders specifying Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes lists. As per the modalities, only those proposals which have been recommended and justified by the concerned State Government/ UT Administration and concurred with by Registrar General of India (RGI) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) are to be considered and legislation amended. All action on the proposal is taken as per these approved modalities,” was the Minister’s answer to the other questions.

Chhetri had also raised questions as to whether the BJP-led Assam government had recommended the inclusion of these Gorkha sub-communities in the ST list. To this, Saruta had clearly replied that the Assam government has made no such recommendations. 

“West Bengal has made the necessary recommendations. Now it is upto the Union government to implement. The West Bengal government is sincere about a permanent solution to the Gorkha impasse. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has issued statements to this effect in the past. Now it is time to test how sincere the BJP-led Union government is towards the Gorkhas,” said the TMC MP.

Anti-BJP Sentiments Stir Darjeeling Amidst Drastic Changes in Hill Party Equations

As demand for Gorkhaland grows, two of the main parties that pushed for this in the Bengal Hills have now seen a sudden spate of changes.

Darjeeling: A tweet by Union minister Kiren Rijiju thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Cabinet decision to include several Arunachal Pradesh tribes in the Scheduled Tribes list has rubbed the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha the wrong way.

“The BJP has no sincerity towards Indian Gorkhas…We appeal to all the Gorkhas not to trust the BJP,” said GJM spokesperson Keshav Raj Pokhrel. The GJM has been calling for a separate Gorkhaland and is now alleging that the BJP has not made good on its promise in spite of capitalising on the demand.

In 2009, backed by the GJM, Jaswant Singh, the BJP candidate from the Darjeeling constituency bagged a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections – the first BJP seat in Bengal.

An addendum in the election manifesto of BJP had then committed to “sympathetically consider the long pending  demand of the Gorkhas.”

In 2014, S.S. Ahluwalia, the BJP candidate from the Darjeeling constituency once again won. He too was backed by the GJM. This time too there was a similar addendum in BJP’s election manifesto.

In a campaign rally at north Bengal’s Siliguri, in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the dream of the Gorkhas is his dream. 

In 2017, a violent agitation broke out in Darjeeling which saw arson and rioting as security forces locked horns with the agitators. Amidst regular deaths, a strike lasted for 104 days. 

“The Hills turned to the Union government for respite but let alone stand with the people, the BJP MP did not even visit his constituency during the upheaval,” said Pokhrel.

Also read: Can North Bengal Afford Another Political Unrest Even as BJP Fuels Statehood Demand?

In 2019, the BJP election manifesto again promised a permanent political solution for Darjeeling. BJP candidate Raju Bista, backed by the Bimal Gurung faction of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front won a thumping victory from Darjeeling seat.

Incidentally, the 2019 BJP manifesto had also promised the inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribe list. Before the West Bengal assembly elections, too, Union home minister Amit Shah had promised to include 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the list.

The West Bengal government in 2014 had sent a recommendation to the Union government for the inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-communities. The Sikkim government too recommended the same. 

But the office of the Registrar General of India rejected the recommendations of an expert committee which was set up by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs just before the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016. 

This committee was to examine and recommend the granting of Scheduled Tribe status to Gurung, Bhujel, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai Sunwar, Thami, Yakkha (Dewan) and Dhimal sub-communities.

Headed by Vishnu Maini of the tribal affairs ministry, the committee had made field visits to Darjeeling and Sikkim and handed over its report just before the Lok Sabha election in 2019. 

“All this was pre-election gimmicks then. They have just been using us. They know that Gorkhas easily trust people,” said Pokhrel.

The GJM is not alone in this distrust.

Breeding ground of unrest 

The history of the Darjeeling Hills indicates that periods of uncertainty – as we are witnessing now – have usually led to unrest. 

With Hill parties vying for political space, there is mounting pressure on BJP, even from its own alliance partner, to set the wheels rolling for the permanent political solution.

BJP has, until now, not revealed what this solution would be.

Sources claim that the GNLF, an ally of the BJP, wants talks for the permanent political solution to be initiated in Delhi – at parliament – at the earliest and has been mounting pressure. 

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista’s Twitter profile photograph.

“Our issues don’t find mention in the list of business. On the other hand granting Scheduled Tribe status to tribes from Arunachal will feature in this session. MP Raju Bista is silent,” said Vikram Adi Rai of the All India Gorkha League (AIGL,) the oldest political outfit of the Gorkhas.

AIGL holds BJP and its allies responsible for the present impasse in the Hills. “Bista had won from the Darjeeling Hills on assurances of a permanent political solution. Two years have passed yet there is nothing, not even a single round of talks. We hold him accountable for this,” stated Rai.

The AIGL has lined up a series of agitations  in protest.

“From August 1, we will hold two days of Dharna in Darjeeling. We invite all pro-Gorkhaland forces to come and join us. If the MP still fails to raise the issues in parliament or make positive headway on a solution, we will launch a fast unto death from August 3,” said S.P. Sharma, a member of the AIGL.

Meanwhile, GJM’s Bimal Gurung faction has raised the demand of autonomy for the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts along with contiguous areas of Dooars by amending Article 244 A of the Indian constitution.

Article 244A of the constitution allows for creation of an autonomous state in certain tribal areas of Assam. It has provision for a legislature and council of ministers.

“Our demand has always been Gorkhaland or Union Territory status. However if the Government is incapable of this, they should give us highest form of autonomy accorded by Article 244A. It will be on the lines of a state within a state,” stated Roshan Giri, general secretary of GJM (Bimal).

Granting tribal status to the remaining 11 sub communities of the Gorkhas would further justify the autonomy under Article 244 A, the GJM (Bimal) group feels.

The demand comes on the heels of a three-member GJM delegation meeting state ministers and Trinamool Congress top brass including Abhisek Banerjee, the general secretary of the party and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, in Kolkata recently.

While BJP won the two assembly seats of Darjeeling and Kurseong, many believe it did so because the GJM had split into two factions which were contesting against each other. The cumulative vote share of the two factions of the GJM was more than BJP’s in these two Hill seats.

Also read: BJP to Divide Bengal? Only on Our Terms, Say Leaders of 3 Identity-Based Movements

The seat of Kalimpong, also in the hills, was won by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Binay faction) candidate.

Bengal BJP leaders seem not to be in the loop of matters pertaining to the Hills.

“When the Central leadership has assured of a permanent political solution in the Sankalp Patra, it will definitely happen. The same holds true for the Scheduled Tribe status for the 11 Gorkha sub-communities. Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured us that it will happen,” said Manoj Dewan, member of BJP’s policy making body for West Bengal

He stated that in 1952 the BJP had raised the issue of reading down Article 370 in Kashmir, which ultimately happened in 2019. “These are complicated matters and take time,” Dewan said.

The State Government also seems to be in no hurry to hold Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) or panchayat elections in the Hills. An administrator was appointed by the Mamata Banerjee government after the Assembly elections at the GTA. The panchayats have been defunct in the Hills since 2005.

Binoy Tamang’s sudden resignation

In a sudden move on July 15, Binoy Tamang tendered his resignation from the post of president and primary membership of his own Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Binoy faction), taking moral responsibility for the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha and with 2021 assembly elections. 

In the resignation letter addressed to GJM vice-president Satish Pokhrel (quoted earlier) and general secretary Anit Thapa, Tamang wrote “Analysis of the result also showed that party functionaries are not serious in organizational matters and played double standard role which resulted in alliance partner TMC not winning the Darjeeling and Kurseong seats.” 

Hatching a conspiracy theory, Tamang stated that there have been attempts to keep him away from Hill politics since January 2019. “It is being planned at the national level with agents within and outside the GJM party,” claimed Tamang.

Binoy Tamang. Photo: Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0

In a volte face Tamang, who had parted ways with Bimal Gurung and had split the GJM in 2017, stated “I will now return the GJM flag to the rightful owner Bimal Gurung.” The day later, he sent the GJM flag to Gurung.

Tamang  stated that henceforth the faction he had resigned from should abstain from using his name.

Tamang’s political association with Gurung dates back to 2007 when they had floated the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in the Hills. 

Gurung had ousted the Subash Ghising-led GNLF and resurrected the Gorkhaland agitation. After rounds of talks between the GJM, state and Centre, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration took shape in 2012. Gurung and the GJM won the GTA elections and were at the helm of affairs.

Gurung’s relation with the West Bengal government has been hot and cold. While running the GTA, Gurung led a series of agitations. He even forged an alliance with the BJP and gave the party it’s first Bengal victory in 2009. 

Also read: Bengal’s Hills Grow Tense as Pre-Poll Politics Upends Old Equations

 In 2017 Gurung spawned an agitation alleging that the TMC government was forcefully imposing Bengali language in the Hills. The protests soon grew into the Gorkhaland agitation that defined the year.

Charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Gurung and his aides fled the Hills. Later, the GJM suffered a vertical split with Binoy Tamang and Anit Thapa taking control of what came to be known as GJM (Binoy.)

Gurung suddenly resurfaced in Kolkata on October 21, 2020, declared his allegiance to TMC and severed ties with long-time ally BJP. In December, he returned to Darjeeling. 

Bimal Gurung addressing a rally in Kalimpong, Gorumathan area. Photo: Snigdhendu Bhattacharya/The Wire

Political developments on the heels of Tamang’s resignation

Burying the hatchet, Bimal Gurung reciprocated to Tamang by saying, “My doors are always open for Binoy Tamang. He can return whenever he wishes too. He is one of the founder members of GJM.”

Wasting no time, he dubbed Tamang’s resignation as an end to factionalism and unilaterally declared himself the leader of the GJM.

Some local leaders of Kalimpong who were Tamang’s supporters immediately crossed over to the Gurung camp. Darjeeling too witnessed the same.   

With Tamang’s resignation, the faction he was leading called a meeting of the central committee along with representatives of frontal organisations in Kurseong. The house accepted Tamang’s resignation and declared Anit Thapa the working president.

“There has to be an end of individualistic politics. We will continue treading on Tamang’s path of violence-free and bandh-free Hills and development,” stated Thapa. 

Opposition camps said it is time the Hills do away with GJM’s misrule. “GJM has been reduced to a soap opera,” said Ajoy Edwards, GNLF leader.

Also read: Can Bimal Gurung Change the Equations in Bengal’s Himalayan Foothills?

He alleged that 14 years of GJM rule (under Bimal Gurung, Binoy Tamang or Anit Thapa) has been riddled by corruption and nepotism. “We want a permanent political solution for the Hills but want peace also,” added Edwards.

The Trinamool Congress, to which both Gurung and the other GJM factions are allied, has been silent.

Why the sudden resignation ?

A rift had been forming between Tamang and Thapa since 2019. 

In 2019 Amar Singh Rai, the GJM MLA was asked to resign and was fielded as the Lok Sabha MP candidate. Tamang decided to contest as GJM candidate in the assembly by-election from the seat.

The GJM lost both the Lok Sabha and assembly seats, leading to discontent over the decision in the party. With Tamang having resigned as the GTA chairman to contest elections, Anit Thapa was nominated to the position.

Recently, Tamang had dissolved various GJM committees, further aggravating the situation. With the committees dissolved, many GJM leaders joined the Gurung camp. 

Thapa has reinstated the GJM committees but feels that Tamang could have easily discussed matters within the party.

“We had supported him in the most difficult and violent of times. We really felt bad when he surrendered the flag to Bimal Gurung stating that he was just the keeper of the flag since 2017. This raises serious doubts as to whether the whole Bimal-Binoy fiasco was orchestrated from the beginning,” said Anit Thapa.

Thapa stated that his faction had started from scratch in 2017 and now has a large support base in the Hills, winning Kalimpong MLA seat this time. “Among the two factions of GJM our performance was much better despite the Hill TMC supporting the Bimal faction,” stated Thapa.  

Rumours have it that Tamang had written to the TMC expressing a desire to join the party but is yet to receive a favourable response. 

With not many options left, Tamang could turn to Gurung and play second fiddle.

When asked whether he would return to the Gurung’s fold, Anit Thapa replied “I would rather leave politics than join Bimal Gurung. I had come out to end violent politics in the Hills and will continue to do so.”

Also read: Behind Sikkim’s Firm Aversion To A Darjeeling Merger Is Two Centuries Of Politics

Multiple power centres in the Hills

The TMC could be trying to get the trio (Gurung, Binoy and Tamang) in one camp to ensure that opposition parties do not reap electoral dividends owing to the division.  

Until now, TMC had tried to creat multiple power centres in the Hills, to check and balance each other.

The Left Front government had a tacit understanding with Subash Ghising. There was not much interference by the state and Ghising was given a free hand to administer the Hills along with the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

After his tenure was over, instead of elections, Ghising was nominated the Administrator of the DGHC by the state government, and got multiple extensions.

This changed with Gurung laying siege of the Hills. The TMC government then propped up other leaders in the Hills to check Gurung.

During the assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee abstained from fielding party candidates in the three hill seats. Instead she forged an alliance with both the factions of the GJM stating that the seat was open to “friends” and who so ever would win would be a natural ally of the TMC in the assembly.

After the assembly election, instead of nominating Anit Thapa, Binoy Tamang or Bimal Gurung, the state appointed the Principal Secretary as the Administrator of the GTA.

With Bengal Polls on the Horizon, BJP Rakes up Demand for Gorkhaland Again

A BJP leader recently noted that any party which came to power at the Centre would “not want to lose the 42 assembly seats of West Bengal by supporting the formation of Gorkhaland”.

Kolkata: With around eight months to the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, issues surrounding the state’s hilly regions have made their way into the news cycle as usual.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista on September 19, on the floor of Lok Sabha, said, “I requested the Union government to expedite the process of ascertaining Permanent Political Solution to fulfil the long pending demand of the people from Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region. I requested the parliament to take cognisance of the fact that the demand for Gorkhaland state is a long-pending demand of the people from Darjeeling Hills, Terai, and Dooars.”

In the 2019 Sankalp Patra (the party manifesto), the BJP had said, “We will recognise the 11 left out Indian Gorkha sub-tribes as Schedule Tribes. We are also committed to implementing reservation in the legislative assembly of Sikkim for Limboo and Tamang tribes. We are committed to work towards finding a permanent political solution to the issue of Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri Terai and Dooars region.”

Earlier in 2014, the saffron party in its general election manifesto stated that it would “sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long-pending demands of the Gorkhas.” The same was mentioned in BJP’s 2009 poll manifesto.

Former cabinet minister and BJP leader Jaswant Singh had been elected from the Darjeeling constituency in 2009. In 2014, S.S. Ahluwalia won the seat by defeating Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia and in 2019, Raju Bista won the seat with a whopping margin of over four lakh votes.

Protesters rally on the streets of Darjeeling demanding Gorkhaland. File photo. Photo: PTI

The BJP has won successive elections to the Darjeeling parliamentary seat since 2009 but has failed to keep its poll promise. This has irked the regional parties, one of which is an ally of the BJP. In August this year, the Bimal Gurung and Binoy Tamang faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) skipped a tripartite meeting called by the Union home ministry to review the “Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) system.”

Also read: BJP’s Backing Gives Strength to Those Agitating for Gorkhaland

The Bimal Gurung faction of GJM is an ally of BJP while the Binoy Tamang faction joined Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool.

“Gorkhaland demand always makes an appearance during elections in the Hills, whether it is panchayat, civic body, assembly or parliamentary election. Politicians are apprehensive that if they do not raise this issue, they will not get votes. This has become the trend in the Hills. With elections, all will be out with the ‘Gorkhaland-jhola’ (bag) seeking votes. But for how long?” Anit Thapa, the Gorkha Territorial Administration chairman, told The Wire. Thapa is the GJM (Binoy Tamang faction) general secretary.

Thapa further said that, “We (Gorkhas) are emotional people. People here kept trusting BJP…not once but thrice, the hills voted for BJP. Now they feel cheated. They feel used.”

BJP’s U-turn on Gorkhaland

Regional parties from Darjeeling have generally trusted New Delhi as the right to create new states is the Centre’s prerogative. The parties especially trusted the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government because it had created three states when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

Before 2014, BJP was a nonentity in the state’s politics and, on multiple occasions, had supported the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. During the general election campaign in 2014, prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had famously said, “Gorkha ka sapna, mera sapna (dreams of Gorkhas are my dreams)”.

Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP’s candidate for the Darjeeling seat, S.S. Ahluwalia, who went on to win the seat, supported the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland. “The BJP has always supported creation of smaller states as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and was in favour of Telangana and so Gorkhaland should also be formed,” Ahluwalia said.

Politics has since changed drastically. After the 2019 general election, the BJP has emerged as the principal opposition to the TMC in Bengal. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the party is very well aware that it can never win a majority in West Bengal by supporting the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. Hence, the volte-face on the issue.

Also read: A People’s Account of the Ongoing Struggle for Gorkhaland

Earlier this year in February, in an exclusive interview to The Wire, BJP’s West Bengal president and MP, Dilip Ghosh, on the subject of Gorkhaland said, “We don’t believe in the idea of a separate state for Gorkhaland. We are looking for a permanent solution for the Gorkhas, their language, tradition, social-economic status and the like.”

Ghosh further said that the “Gorkhaland issue was harboured by a very small regional party (GJM)” and that the party was currently facing an ‘existential crisis’. “Neither have they had leaders nor any ideology. I admit they are our election partners and in the last assembly election, they contested with BJP symbol. They have placed their demands and we are currently working on it,” Ghosh said.

BJP’s Dilip Ghosh. Photo: Twitter/@DilipGhoshBJP

Agitation of 2017

Since 2017, the hills of Darjeeling have been rocked by agitations for statehood – witnessing a record 104-day strike and shutdown in support of the demand for Gorkhaland. BJP and it’s then MP from Darjeeling, Ahluwalia, had to face criticism from Gorkha residents for not supporting them during their hour of crisis.

In fact, the circumstances changed so fast that for 18 months, the BJP could not enter Darjeeling and initiate any political activity in the hills as the people were enraged at the BJP and accused the party of using them for political purposes.

Later, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) extended support to the BJP and joined hands with the Bimal Gurung faction of GJM. This change in political equation helped the BJP field a candidate for the Darjeeling seat. Ahluwalia, however, was removed.

As Bengal is gears for the upcoming polls, the current Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has once again raised the issue of Gorkhaland. However, the party is now facing questions over its intent and lack of attempts to resolve the issue despite being in power at the Centre for over six years. Call made by The Wire to reach Raju Bista went unanswered.

Also read: Why the Gorkha Homeland Talks Are a One Way Street

A senior local journalist from Darjeeling, who wished to remain anonymous told The Wire, “There is a notion in the hill that ‘Delhi-party’ is pro-Gorkha and will accept their long-standing demand for Gorkhaland. So, they keep their allegiance with parties at the Centre, especially BJP. But a lot of time has passed, the BJP has been in power for over six years now, but they haven’t done anything to resolve the issue. This is not going well with the local leadership and common people also feel betrayed.”

The BJP’s stand on Gorkhaland became clearer, when recently, Sagar Pokhrel, the President of the BJP’s youth wing, Darjeeling district committee (Hills,) told a newspaper that, “One thing is for sure, only the Union government has the power to carve out Gorkhaland from West Bengal. Whichever party comes to power in the Centre will not want to lose the 42 assembly seats of West Bengal by supporting the formation of Gorkhaland. No party in West Bengal or at the Centre will side with the Gorkhaland demand. This is the truth and this is what we have to realise.”