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HomeIndiaWhy BJP, GNLF and TMC’s own ally GJM are boycotting Gorkhaland Territorial...

Why BJP, GNLF and TMC’s own ally GJM are boycotting Gorkhaland Territorial Administration polls

BJP has called Gorkhaland Territorial Administration an "unconstitutional body", while TMC ally GJM has accused West Bengal government of "controlling" what was meant to be an "autonomous body".

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Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided not to contest the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) polls in Darjeeling. “There is no question of fighting this election. We will not be giving candidates to this unconstitutional body which is being termed autonomous,” BJP MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista, told ThePrint.

Polling for GTA, an “autonomous body” to administer West Bengal’s Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions, will be held on 26 June, followed by declaration of results on 29 June. West Bengal government’s Home and Hill Affairs department had issued a notification for GTA polls on 27 May despite stiff opposition from Trinamool Congress’s own ally, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the opposition BJP and its ally Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF).

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration was formed as the result of a tripartite agreement between the Centre, West Bengal government and GJM on 18 July 2011. Seen as the answer to a long-drawn demand by Gorkhas for self-rule in Darjeeling, the body’s mandate was to usher in development for West Bengal’s hill areas.

“Both the CPIM and Trinamool have failed to keep their promise to the people of Darjeeling right from transfer of money to transfer of departments as stated in the Act (GTA Act, 2011). The GTA is lacking funds, function and functionaries. There is no autonomy in GTA. All parties, including the BJP, have let down the Gorkhas and used them only for political gains from time to time,” political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty told ThePrint.

Asked why the BJP and its ally GNLF are opposing the GTA polls, Chakraborty, who is also professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University, said the results of the civic elections held in March hold some clues.

“BJP and GNLF drew a blank in all 32 wards (in Darjeeling), this defeat was a big setback for them given their parties have sitting MP and MLA from Darjeeling. On the other hand, Gurung’s party GJM only won three seats.

“So, this defeat is probably the root cause behind opposing this GTA polls on the heels of a recent defeat. On the other hand, the Hamro Party, TMC and Bhartiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, who did well in the civic polls, are gearing up for GTA as they are confident of people’s support,” he told ThePrint.


Also Read: Why Mamata invited tribals to Purulia event, asked them to detail ‘bribes paid for govt services’


TMC ally GJM, BJP-GNLF oppose polls

Opposing the upcoming polls, BJP and its ally GNLF have termed GTA an “unconstitutional body” on the grounds that it was established without an amendment to Article 243(M) of the Constitution. Article 243(M) of the Constitution applies to tribal areas in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and hill areas of Manipur and Darjeeling, which are yet to have a panchayat system.

Neeraj Zimba, MLA from Darjeeling, said the BJP-GNLF combine is consulting lawyers and plans to move the Calcutta High Court seeking a stay on the upcoming GTA polls. Zimba, who was elected as the legislator from Darjeeling on a BJP ticket in the 2021 assembly polls, said the GTA is “not an autonomous body” since it is “controlled” by the state government.

“We have opposed GTA right from its inception. It hasn’t been able to fulfill the political, social, and economic aspirations of the people of Darjeeling, the Gorkhas,” Zimba told ThePrint.

Among those in opposition to the upcoming GTA polls is TMC’s ally, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is demanding the implementation of objectives listed in the GTA Act before fresh elections are held in Darjeeling. On the day the notification was issued, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri had written to CM Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to defer the GTA polls till there is deliberation on recommendations made by his party.

“The state government is controlling the GTA. We aren’t able to function in this manner,” Roshan Giri told ThePrint. He confirmed that the GJM on 9 May submitted a memorandum to the West Bengal Chief Minister through minister Arup Biswas, demanding the implementation of the GTA Act in its entirety.

GJM chief Bimal Gurung had been staging an indefinite fast outside his party office in Darjeeling since May 25 with these demands. Gurung is now under treatment at a hospital in Sikkim where he was taken after his health deteriorated Tuesday.

Dismissing the charges levelled against the West Bengal government, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the GTA polls will be held successfully in Darjeeling.

“GTA has restored democracy in the hills. Earlier, the Left regime in the state couldn’t even climb up in fear but today, tourists are flocking to Darjeeling. The West Bengal government prioritises the people and this political process is keeping the interest of Darjeeling in mind,” Ghosh told ThePrint.

GTA & Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council

Dr Swatahsiddha Sarkar, an assistant professor at the Centre for Himalayan studies at the University of North Bengal, said the demand for a separate administrative arrangement for Darjeeling dates back to the twentieth century.

It was only in the 1980s that the movement picked up pace when the issue was highlighted by Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) Subhash Ghising, he added.

“In 1988, the issue was pacified as the Gorkhas were persuaded to accept the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a tripartite agreement between the then Congress-led Centre, erstwhile CPIM government in West Bengal and GNLF,” Dr Sarkar told ThePrint.

Dr Sarkar explained that the demand for a separate state for Gorkhas was renewed by Bimal Gurung — a DGHC councillor himself — in 2007 after he parted ways with Ghising and launched his own party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

“His (Gurung’s) agenda was not only anti-Subhash Ghising, his mentor and GNLF founder, but also anti-DGHC. He then went to form his own political outfit in 2007 and started escalating pressure on the then CPI(M) government in West Bengal.

“Finally, GJM agreed to an interim set-up but it only came into force in 2011 when there was a change in rule in West Bengal, perhaps hoping to strike a fresh deal to attain its long-standing demands,” said Dr Sarkar.

Till 2011, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) was the “autonomous body” managing the affairs of Darjeeling.

“A cursory look at the provisions of GTA and DGHC will help one realise that they are identical politico-administrative arrangements to execute power. While the GTA has far more numerical strength of elected members than DGHC. The biggest difference one finds is the GTA agreement promised a three-tier panchayat poll which didn’t find any mention in DGHC,” Dr Sarkar said.

“Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council or DGHC Act 1988 was established under the Constitution. However, it wasn’t ever amended for GTA so one still finds DGHC mentioned in the Constitution,” BJP MP Raju Bista pointed out.

Demand for ‘permanent solution’

Even in 2022, the demand for statehood for Darjeeling is one raised frequently by political parties in North Bengal. This, despite CM Mamata Banerjee vowing on several occasions that she would not let Darjeeling be separated from West Bengal.

During her visit to Darjeeling in March this year, the Chief Minister had asked all hill parties to “promise” her that they would not fight and work for the development of people for the next 10 years. “People first, politics later,” she had said before chairing an all-party meeting in Siliguri which the BJP had boycotted.

Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba told ThePrint that his party, the GNLF, wants a “permanent political solution that can be achieved if Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai region can be made into a separate state or union territory”.

“Personally, if you ask me, we were never a part of West Bengal. But BJP in its ‘Sankalp Patra’ has promised a political solution within the constitutional framework and that will be done,” said BJP MP Raju Bista, whose party is an ally of the GNLF.

In October 2021, after he chaired a meeting on issues related to Gorkhas living in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region of West Bengal, Union Home minister Amit Shah was quoted as saying: “GTA is an unconstitutional body and Mamata Banerjee wants to derail central talks.”

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)


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