Kolkata: In December 2023, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met several leaders from Darjeeling, West Bengal, at his residence. A month later, the chief of Darjeeling’s Hamro Party, Ajoy Edwards, released a short video on his social media page featuring an A4 poster of him alongside Rahul Gandhi in his SUV, symbolising their joint participation in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur — a clear indication of Edwards aligning with the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
On 28 March, Edwards’ Hamro Party formally joined the INDIA bloc at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.
Addressing the media, Edwards outlined his reasons for this strategic move. “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 said.
The Hamro Party — a relatively young political outfit at two and half years old — made waves by sweeping the civic polls in Darjeeling in 2022. Despite Edwards’ loss, the party secured 18 of the 32 seats in the municipality. However, defections among party councillors soon followed, with many joining Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha camp.
However, Edwards himself won’t be contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Instead, he pledged full “tann (body), mann (mind) and dhan (money)” support to the Congress candidate Munish Tamang, whom he described as a “bhumiputra” (son of the soil). Munish Tamang, the president of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, also joined the Congress on the same day.
This development is likely to make the Lok Sabha elections in Darjeeling a triangular contest — between the Congress, BJP and TMC — though political observers in the hills feel there is very little time for campaigning, given the complexity of the constituency.
Darjeeling parliamentary seat comprises five assembly segments under the Darjeeling district, one in Kalimpong district and another in North Dinajpur district.
The BJP has announced the renomination of Raju Bista after hectic deliberations to decide between the sitting MP and former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla
The TMC’s Anit Thapa chose former West Bengal Civil Service officer Gopal Lama as their nominee, who filed his nomination Thursday.
But with Edwards going with the Congress, can the party resurrect in Darjeeling? According to political analyst Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, it won’t be a cakewalk for any party.
“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 explained.
He added that this could also turn the other way round and benefit the BJP if the vote gets divided between INDIA bloc — TMC and Congress.
In the meantime, BJP MLA from Kurseong, Bishnu Prasad Sharma has filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls from the Darjeeling seat against his party.
Another popular face, Bimal Gurung, who has been away from the political limelight, is likely to announce his decision on the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Lok Sabha strategy in the coming week. Political observers in Darjeeling say, Gurung still has a strong support base and can influence polls even today though he’s not seen much in the media.
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Gorkhaland issue
Edwards, known for running the popular food joint Glenary’s in Darjeeling, has a history of social service before forming the Hamro Party, 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,” said Edwards to highlight Congress’s willingness to work for the hills in Delhi.
According to political analysts, Gorkhas are aware that if they want bifurcation, it’s only the central government that can make it happen and not the state, which is why in Darjeeling, over the past decade and a half, the people have supported the BJP.
In 2019, the BJP won 59.6 percent vote share, while the TMC and the Congress secured 26.9 percent and 5.2 percent vote share, respectively.
In the 2021 Vidhan Sabha polls, the picture changed slightly. While BJP won five of the seven assembly seats, TMC won just one. The vote share of the BJP stood at 44.2 percent, while that of the TMC and the Congress was 26.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. At 2.8 percent, the Congress share was the lowest in Darjeeling of all time.
As political fervour escalates in Darjeeling, the core issue of “Gorkhaland” continues to dominate discussions and the demand for separate statehood remains a pivotal concern for the region.
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 statement put the Congress in a spot, prompting Pawan Khera to emphasise that “it was Ajoy’s vision and everyone is allowed to keep it before the party for discussion”.
However, the TMC, still aligned with the INDIA bloc for the Lok Sabha elections, staunchly opposes the idea of Gorkhaland. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has even vowed to prevent Darjeeling’s bifurcation from Bengal during her tenure.
But can the change in the political winds in the hills of north Bengal bring in with it the Congress? Political analysts aren’t convinced.
“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 department, Mass Communication, Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, On 6 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a public rally in Siliguri under the Darjeeling constituency, hinted that the BJP is nearing a solution for the Gorkhas.
An undefined term — “permanent political solution” — was used by the BJP in the 2019 election manifesto, but there has been very slow progress with only a few meetings in New Delhi’s North Block.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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