Amidst the shrill demands for a separate state of Gorkhaland, the three constituencies in the Darjeeling Hills go to polls in the first phase of West Bengal Assembly elections on April 18 with three hill parties vying for space.
Even though the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has the dominant presence in the three seats of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, the presence of central forces and strict vigil by election observers has meant a level playing field for the other parties that have fielded candidates.
With the GNLF and the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) also campaigning in full force, it may not be a cakewalk for the Bimal Gurung-led GJM which is fighting the elections for the first time, poll watchers said.
“We have our own candidates in the hills and we are supporting opposition candidates in the Dooars Terai region as our goal is a change and defeating the Left Front,” GJM leader Roshan Giri told PTI here.
“We want the Left Front to go and there is no condition attached to our support for the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance,” Mr. Giri said, adding the issue of formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland was not involved.
While ABGL also demands the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland, but with the rider that development of the hills is foremost and the statehood can come in time, GNLF supremo Subash Ghising is all for a Sixth Schedule status for the hills.
While CPI(M) has put up candidates in Darjeeling and Kurseong, its Front partner CPI is contesting from Kalimpong.
The Congress has also put up candidates in all the three constituencies, but not much is seen of these parties in campaign for these seats.
Mr. Ghising, one-time mentor of Bimal Gurung, has entered the hills after three years of exile imposed by Mr. Gurung and his followers for allegedly betraying the interest of the hills people by wanting the Sixth Schedule status instead of statehood.
Several processions of GNLF have been seen in the hills at Ghoom, which boasts of the highest railway station in the world, and other places and Mr. Ghising has also held an impressive rally at Mirik, a tourist destination about 40 kms from Darjeeling town.
This has apparently perturbed the GJM leadership with Mr. Gurung holding a rally at the same place a couple of days later where he reportedly said the visa issued to Mr. Ghising by the Election Commission would expire on April 18, the date of the elections in the hills, and that he must quit the hills by then.
The ABGL, the oldest political party in the Hills, has demanded punishment to those involved in the murder of its leader Madan Tamang by alleged GJM activists led by Nicole Tamang, as also restoration of law and order and development in the Hills.
“CBI ko nyay dilana parega,” ABGL assistant general secretary Lakshman Pradhan said, adding it was an issue that the hills people would not forget and give their answer at the hustings.
GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said the perpetrators of the crime should be punished, but said it was not an issue in the elections.
“Law is taking its own course. Whoever has murdered Mr. Tamang should be punished. He was murdered in broad daylight. It is not acceptable to the people of the Hills,” Mr. Giri said.
“But the issue will not have much impact in the elections, because the real issue is the creation of Gorkhaland and for that people will vote for us,” he said.
GJM has put up T K Dewan at Darjeeling seat, while heavyweight party leader Dr Harka Bahadur Chetri is contesting from Kalimpong and Dr Rohit Sharma from Kurseong.
ABGL general secretary Bharati Tamang, widow of Madan Tamang, is contesting from Darjeeling seat.
Several top Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee are campaigning in the plains areas of Darjeeling, but they have kept clear of the Hills and have left it to the Hills parties to slug it out in the polls though the opposition alliance and also the ruling Left Front have put up candidates.
Though the present scenario is tilted in favour of the GJM, it is to be seen whether the results in the three seats in the Hills springs any surprise and reflect what the people there really want.
