India News | Surprise Winner in Darjeeling Municipality Loses Majority After 10 Months; TMC Leader to Quit Party

Darjeeling, Dec 28 (PTI) The relatively new Hamro Party, which surprised many by winning the Darjeeling Municipality election in this hill town 10 months back, lost majority to the BGPM on Wednesday following defection from two other parties.

Following the development, Trinamool Congress leader Binay Tamang said he will quit the party, claiming that outsiders are pullings strings in the politics of the hills.

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Five councillors of the Hamro Party, headed by Ajay Edwards, which had won 18 of the 32 seats in the municipal body, joined the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM). Another Hamro Party councillor also backed the BGPM during the trust vote.

While the BGPM had won nine seats in the elections held in February this year, the two TMC councillors defected to that party, thus taking its effective strength to 17 in the 32-seat municipal body.

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The remaining 12 members of the Hamro Party and three councillors of the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) stayed away from participating in the trust vote.

TMC leader in the hills, Binay Tamang, later announced that he is leaving the Mamata Banerjee-led party. A former leader of the GJM, Tamang joined the TMC in 2021.

"Strings are being pulled in the hill politics by leaders in Siliguri or Kolkata. This is severely affecting the political scenario in Darjeeling," he claimed.

Protesting against the takeover of reins of the municipal body, the Hamro Party leadership has called a month-long protest in the hills.

Riding on the poll plank of social justice and overall development, the Hamro Party, had won 18 of the 32 seats in the Darjeeling Municipality formed in 1850. The party was only four months old at that time. The BJP and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) drew a blank in that election.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)