As BJP attempts ‘Oppn unity’ with Gorkha parties for Bengal rural polls, an ally has ‘reservations’

Anti-TMC ‘United Gorkha Alliance’ formed after series of talks chaired by BJP MP Raju Bista last week. Ruling party in Bengal says not threatened by ‘sudden Opposition unity’.

BJP MP Raju Bista with GNLF president Mann Ghising (left) and GNLF leader Neeraj Zimba in Darjeeling | Twitter | @RajuBistaBJP

Kolkata: A grand alliance of hill-based parties stitched by the BJP to take on the Trinamool Congress and its ‘ally’ in the panchayat elections in Darjeeling and Kalimpong is facing its first hurdle with one of its constituents, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), expressing reservations over this ‘anti-TMC’ coalition.

On Sunday, BJP MP Raju Bista had announced the ‘United Gorkha Alliance’ for the panchayat polls that will take place after a gap of 23 years in the twin districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong on 8 July.

The Hamro Party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists, the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha and the SUMETI Mukti Morcha have come together after attending a series of talks chaired by Bista over the last week.

But missing from the Sunday meeting was GNLF’s senior leader Neeraj Zimba, who had won the 2021 West Bengal election on a BJP ticket from Darjeeling. The GNLF, which controlled the erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), is in an alliance with the BJP since 2019.

“We have certain reservations that I cannot disclose before the media. We sent our general secretary for the meeting. We are in a political alliance with the BJP, this new coalition, however, is an electoral alliance. Panchayat polls — unlike the general or assembly polls — require way more candidates. So, our top leaders will continue to support the BJP, as our common enemy is the TMC,” Zimba told ThePrint.

In 2022, the Ajoy Edwards-led Hamro Party had won the Darjeeling civic polls in what was the biggest surprise result of the local body elections in West Bengal. But the party lost control of the Darjeeling civic bodies as its councilors shifted allegiance to the more established Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM).

Thapa, who now leads the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has an informal alliance with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

GNLF founder Subhash Ghising, the former hill strongman, was against the panchayat elections. He was of the opinion that the powers and functions of gram samitis would overlap with those of the DGHC. Incidentally, the GTA was formed in 2012 to replace
the DGHC.

Bista, meanwhile, exuded confidence that the BJP-led alliance had an opportunity to usher in development in the region.

“With the panchayat election, we have a chance to bypass the West Bengal government, and usher in development in our region directly through the central government. Panchayats are funded by the central government, and, hence, we can develop our grassroots infrastructure. We can ensure development of our region and eradicate GTA’s and TMC’s corruption completely,” Bista told ThePrint.

“The United Gorkha Alliance will practice ‘Corruption Sunya Policy (zero corruption policy)’. We will ensure honest and transparent governance, free from cut-money and corruption…. We will ensure 100 percent accountability, empower Gram Sabha and promote bottom-up decision making in the region, by promoting ‘Hamro Gaon, Ramro Banau (Let’s better our villages),” Bista added.  

Rivals not worried about ‘opposition unity’

GTA chairperson and BGPM chief Anit Thapa remains unfazed by the political realignment in the hills ahead of the panchayat polls. “We are confident of winning people’s trust, as we have worked for their development without giving false hope,” Thapa told ThePrint. 

He was referring to the BJP’s assurance of a “permanent political solution” in the hills of West Bengal that has a long-standing demand for separate statehood but hasn’t acted on the emotive issue, so far. 

According to political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay, the BJP has made the move as Thapa has become the most popular political face in the hills and thus making it tough for the BJP to win the rural polls despite being the only party to win the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat since 2009, even before the TMC came to power in the state. 

“Both Binay Tamang (who quit the TMC in 2022) and (GJM chief) Bimal Gurung have lost their credibility and popularity in the hills. In fact, Gurung’s Morcha didn’t even fight the civic polls. Anit Thapa, on the other hand, has held onto the political clout and will be a tough opponent to defeat in its debut panchayat poll battle,” Bandopadhyay explained. 

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asserted that the ruling party is not threatened by the sudden ‘opposition unity’ in Darjeeling. “The people of Darjeeling are happy with the development work being done. They know which parties created a scene of unrest and will support them in any way. The sheer number of tourists in Darjeeling also proves that the hills are no longer viewed as a center of unrest. People will repose their faith in TMC,” Ghosh told ThePrint.

(Edited by Tony Rai)