Kolkata: The bait is the single Lok Sabha seat of Darjeeling in North Bengal, a major part of which covers the hill areas in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong and parts of the plains of Terai and Dooars in North Bengal.
But neither the BJP ruling at the Centre nor the state ruling party Trinamool Congress can cut much ice among the voters in the hills on their own strength in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency in 2024. The Congress and the Left Front seem to be virtually insignificant in the hills of north Bengal as of now.
The power equation in the hills scattered over Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong is concentrated among four smaller hill forces, three being organized parties and one being an individual with some influence among the hill voters. These smaller forces have the power to change the equation in the hills despite not having a single MP or MLA currently.
In fact, the equation of both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress in the hills is dependent on their getting these smaller parties on their side.
Incidentally, none of these parties has any compulsion for any understanding to escape the central investigative agencies. Rather, the question here is the bigger issue of a separate Gorkhaland state carved out of the hill areas in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong and parts of the plains of Terai and Dooars in North Bengal.
The first among them, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) founded by Bimal Gurung and once the final word in the hills, helped the BJP candidates to sail through in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with comfortable margins in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections. In the recently concluded polls for the three-tier panchayat system in West Bengal. the GJM had an understanding with the BJP.
The second force is the Ajay Edwards-founded Hamro Party, which emerged as a big force in the Darjeeling municipal polls last year. Despite having an understanding with the GJM, unlike Gurung, Edwards is yet to make it clear whether he would be supporting the BJP in the big battle of 2024.
The third is an individual with some influence among the hill voters — the estranged Trinamool Congress leader Binoy Tamang. Despite having an understanding with both Gurung and Edwards, recently Tamang has started raising his voice in favour of the Congress especially after its thumping victory in the recently concluded Karnataka assembly polls.
The fourth in the league is the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) founded by Anit Thapa, once a close confidant of Bimal Gurung and who is now having a written understanding with the Trinamool Congress in the hills.
Both Bimal Gurung and Ajay Edwards have openly pronounced that a permanent political solution in the hills would include the long-standing demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. Binoy Tamang is more loaded — his aim is to achieve a situation where the “overall aspirations” of the hill voters are fulfilled, although he is yet to become clear on the definition of “overall aspirations”.
The BGPM’s line is clear that the aim is development of infrastructure, tourism and other related facilities in the hills rather than the separate statehood demand.
In the recently concluded panchayat polls, in the hills the Trinamool Congress- backed BGPM had been well-ahead of its rivals enjoying the backing of the BJP. Unlike the remaining districts, polls were conducted for only two tiers of gram panchayat and panchayat samiti. As the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is in overall charge of the civic administration in the hills, there were no polls at the zilla parishad level, which is the highest tier in the three-tier panchayat system.
Observers of the hill politics feel that the results in the two tiers are a warning to the BJP for the 2024 big battle in the case of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, from where the saffron camp candidates have been elected to Parliament since 2009. The results had also been indicative that Bimal Gurung, who had once been the final word in the hills, has significantly lost his relevance in hill politics with Anit Thapa being the new trump card
–IANS