In West Bengal’s northern hill region where the Gorkha community decides the course of politics, the three assembly seats of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong are all set to witness four-cornered contests in the first phase of polling on April 23.
The three seats – Darjeeling, immortalised in numerous novels and movies including Satyajit Ray’s movie Kanchenjunga, Kurseong and Kalimpong – have a combined population of 0.875 million, according to the 2011 census.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) earmarked the three seats for its ally, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa. The BGPM not only controls the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) but also most gram panchayats and panchayat samities in the hills and tea garden areas.
“Anit Thapa’s party will contest the three hill region seats,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on March 17 while announcing 291 TMC candidates for Bengal’s 294 constituencies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat four times in a row since 2009 with support from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), is also backing candidates from the Gorkha community.
In the 2021 assembly elections, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, then a GJM spokesperson, and Neeraj Zimba, a senior GNLF leader, won the Kurseong and Darjeeling seats respectively with BJP’s support. The Kalimpong seat, on the other hand, was won by Ruden Sada Lepcha, an independent candidate backed by the Binoy Tamang-faction of the GJM.
How the equations changed this year
The BJP denied tickets to both Sharma and Zimba for the upcoming assembly polls. Sharma has since joined the TMC.
The party has named two new candidates instead. Backed by BJP, Noman Rai, president of the GJM’s youth front, and Sonam Lama, who left GJM and joined BJP two years ago, are contesting the Darjeeling and Kurseong seats respectively.
“Corruption in the GTA administration is a key issue. People know that only BJP can ensure good governance,” Lama said.
TMC ally BGPM has fielded Bijoy Kumar Rai, a retired school teacher and former chairman of the Hill School Service Commission, from the Darjeeling seat and Amar Lama, a local leader, from Kurseong.
The incumbent MLA, Ruden Sada Lepcha, is defending his Kalimpong seat this year as BGPM candidate. “People of Kalimpong will vote for development as they are tired of the promises BJP has been making since 2009,” Lepcha said.
The BJP has fielded former Indian hockey team captain Bharat Chettri against Lepcha for the seat.
The Congress and the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front
The Congress, which has little presence in the hill region, has fielded local leaders: Madhap Rai from Darjeeling, Saroj Kumar Khatri from Kurseong and Santa Kumar Pradhan from Kalimpong.
The fourth party in the race is the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front (IGJF) that Ajoy Lucas Edwards – a philanthropist and owner of Glenary’s, Darjeeling’s famous bakery and restaurant – formed in November 2025.
Edwards, who is contesting from Darjeeling, said, “The hill people are fed up with both the state and the Centre. People want a party that will work hard to fulfil the dreams of the Gorkhas and fight against corruption in the GTA.”
For the Kurseong seat, which is surrounded by tea gardens, the IGJF has fielded Bandana Rai, a lawyer and tea garden workers’ rights activist. Sumendra Tamang, a tea garden workers’ union leader, is also contesting the Kurseong seat as an independent.
IGJF, which is popular among young voters, has fielded Bhernone Britto Lepcha, a retired state civil service officer, from Kalimpong.
What the locals want
The main demands of the hill people are a permanent political solution to the Gorkhaland issue and scheduled tribe status for 11 Gorkha communities.
BJP leaders have said that by appointing Pankaj Kumar Singh, a former deputy national security advisor, as an interlocutor for the talks, the Centre has made a move towards finding a permanent political solution.
The BGPM, however, has targeted BJP in its campaign, saying it only made promises to the Gorkhas before and after winning the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat but did not deliver on the assurances.
Thapa, the BGPM president and GTA chief executive, said: “We are asking people to vote for development. The BJP has been fooling the Gorkhas since 2009 by claiming it wants to protect the region’s identity. We are there to protect it.”
The GJM general secretary Roshan Giri disagreed, saying it is only the BJP can deliver. “We have formed an alliance with the BJP because it is in power at the Centre. Only BJP can deliver what the Gorkhas want.”
A section of the hill people feel that voters may support candidates who are not backed by TMC or BJP.
Bhakta Chettri, a tourist taxi operator in Darjeeling, said: “The hills have seen enough of TMC and BJP. In Kurseong, for example, I have seen young people, especially first-time voters, attending rallies of debutants like Bandana Rai and Sumendra Tamang in large numbers.”