Kolkata: In December 2023, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi met a number of leaders from Darjeeling, West Bengal, at his residence. A month later, the chief of Darjeeling’s Hamro Get together, Ajoy Edwards, launched a brief video on his social media web page that includes an A4 poster of him alongside Rahul Gandhi in his SUV, symbolising their joint participation within the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur — a transparent indication of Edwards aligning with the Congress forward of the Lok Sabha elections.
On 28 March, Edwards’ Hamro Get together formally joined the INDIA bloc on the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.
Addressing the media, Edwards outlined his causes for this strategic transfer. “The TMC (Trinamool Congress) has done nothing for the hills and cannot give us constitutional justice and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has wasted 15 years. The Prime Minister came to Siliguri a few days ago and said they are nearing a solution for the Gorkhas, but where has it been for the last five years? We believe the Congress will give Gorkhas justice,” he mentioned.
The Hamro Get together — a comparatively younger political outfit at two and half years previous — made waves by sweeping the civic polls in Darjeeling in 2022. Regardless of Edwards’ loss, the celebration secured 18 of the 32 seats within the municipality. Nevertheless, defections amongst celebration councillors quickly adopted, with many becoming a member of Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha camp.
Nevertheless, Edwards himself gained’t be contesting the Lok Sabha polls. As an alternative, he pledged full “tann (body), mann (mind) and dhan (money)” assist to the Congress candidate Munish Tamang, whom he described as a “bhumiputra” (son of the soil). Munish Tamang, the president of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, additionally joined the Congress on the identical day.
This growth is more likely to make the Lok Sabha elections in Darjeeling a triangular contest — between the Congress, BJP and TMC — although political observers within the hills really feel there’s little or no time for campaigning, given the complexity of the constituency.
Darjeeling parliamentary seat includes 5 meeting segments underneath the Darjeeling district, one in Kalimpong district and one other in North Dinajpur district.
The BJP has introduced the renomination of Raju Bista after hectic deliberations to determine between the sitting MP and former overseas secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla
The TMC’s Anit Thapa selected former West Bengal Civil Service officer Gopal Lama as their nominee, who filed his nomination Thursday.
However with Edwards going with the Congress, can the celebration resurrect in Darjeeling? In line with political analyst Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, it gained’t be a cakewalk for any celebration.
“Smaller parties in the hills are important. But Darjeeling isn’t a simple seat. While Kurseong and Kalimpong are dominated by the Gorkhas, Siliguri has a mixed population, there are Matua votes as well. So, the Congress will have to crack that in less than three weeks,” he defined.
He added that this might additionally flip the opposite means spherical and profit the BJP if the vote will get divided between INDIA bloc — TMC and Congress.
Within the meantime, BJP MLA from Kurseong, Bishnu Prasad Sharma has filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls from the Darjeeling seat in opposition to his celebration.
One other common face, Bimal Gurung, who has been away from the political limelight, is more likely to announce his resolution on the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Lok Sabha technique within the coming week. Political observers in Darjeeling say, Gurung nonetheless has a robust assist base and might affect polls even right this moment although he’s not seen a lot within the media.
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Gorkhaland concern
Edwards, recognized for working the favored meals joint Glenary’s in Darjeeling, has a historical past of social service earlier than forming the Hamro Get together, which is now the principal opposition of the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
“Before 2009, when the Congress was in power in the hills, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Indira had visited Darjeeling. No tall leader from the BJP has even come to the hills. It was under the Congress regime that Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was formed in 1988 and GTA in 2012,” mentioned Edwards to spotlight Congress’s willingness to work for the hills in Delhi.
In line with political analysts, Gorkhas are conscious that if they need bifurcation, it’s solely the central authorities that may make it occur and never the state, which is why in Darjeeling, over the previous decade and a half, the folks have supported the BJP.
In 2019, the BJP gained 59.6 % vote share, whereas the TMC and the Congress secured 26.9 % and 5.2 % vote share, respectively.
Within the 2021 Vidhan Sabha polls, the image modified barely. Whereas BJP gained 5 of the seven meeting seats, TMC gained only one. The vote share of the BJP stood at 44.2 %, whereas that of the TMC and the Congress was 26.9 % and a pair of.8 %, respectively. At 2.8 %, the Congress share was the bottom in Darjeeling of all time.
As political fervour escalates in Darjeeling, the core concern of “Gorkhaland” continues to dominate discussions and the demand for separate statehood stays a pivotal concern for the area.
Seated alongside West Bengal Congress in-charge G.A. Mir and media-in-charge Pawan Khera, Edwards Thursday declared that his “ultimate goal is to separate Darjeeling from Bengal.”
His assertion put the Congress in a spot, prompting Pawan Khera to emphasize that “it was Ajoy’s vision and everyone is allowed to keep it before the party for discussion”.
Nevertheless, the TMC, nonetheless aligned with the INDIA bloc for the Lok Sabha elections, staunchly opposes the concept of Gorkhaland. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has even vowed to forestall Darjeeling’s bifurcation from Bengal throughout her tenure.
However can the change within the political winds within the hills of north Bengal herald with it the Congress? Political analysts aren’t satisfied.
“No party has delivered their promises. There is anti-incumbency this time, but in the past, the trend among Darjeeling voters has been symbol-based and not candidate-based. The only demand one sees in Darjeeling is Gorkhaland. Not just candidates but also manifesto will be very important to see what key promises the parties make,” Vikram Rai, political analyst and assistant professor and head of division, Mass Communication, Joseph’s Faculty, Darjeeling, informed ThePrint.
In the meantime, On 6 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, throughout a public rally in Siliguri underneath the Darjeeling constituency, hinted that the BJP is nearing an answer for the Gorkhas.
An undefined time period — “permanent political solution” — was utilized by the BJP within the 2019 election manifesto, however there was very sluggish progress with only some conferences in New Delhi’s North Block.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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