GTA elections: 210 of 318 candidates are Independents

Of the 108 nominations, only Hamro Party has fielded candidates on all 45 seats, while Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) (36), CPI(M) (12), TMC (10), and Congress (5) seats.

According to the Home and Hill Affairs Department, a total of 318 candidates have filed their nominations for the 45 GTA seats. (Facebook @GorkhalandTerritorialAdministration)

Nearly two-thirds of the total candidates who filed their papers for the elections to the 45 Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) seats are Independents, said officials as the process of filing nominations was completed on June 3.

According to officials of the Home and Hill Affairs Department, the nodal body which conducts the GTA elections, a total of 318 candidates have filed their nominations for the 45 GTA seats and out of which, 210 are Independents and 108 are from various political parties.

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Out of the 108 nominations, only Hamro Party has fielded candidates on all 45 seats, while Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) (36), CPI(M) (12), TMC (10), and Congress (5) seats. A large number of Independents are from the parties that have been opposing the GTA elections and have decided to boycott the polls, claimed local political leaders. BJP and allies — Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) and All India Gorkha League (AIGL) — have already announced their decision not to contest the GTA elections, saying “GTA is an obstacle in the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland” and demanded the scrapping of the GTA.

Besides, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), an ally of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), too, has decided not to contest the elections. Demanding deferment of the GTA elections, GJM president Bimal Gurung had even observed a hunger strike for 104 hours.

Former GTA chairman Binoy Tamang said, “Among the two-third Independents, most of the candidates are either leaders or workers of known political parties which are not fighting the elections directly. I think it is good for Darjeeling and the entire hill region. It proves that democracy is prevailing in the hill region.” “Political parties opposing the GTA elections have propped up Independent candidates, while others resigned from their parties and filed nominations as Independents,” said BGPM president Anit Thapa.

GJM working president Lopsang Lama filed his nomination as an Independent from the Kalimpong seat on Friday. “If elected, I will raise the demand for the dissolution of the GTA,” said Lama, who is the former Deputy Chairman of the GTA.

Meanwhile, the nomination process for the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad elections has also been completed. The Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad has nine seats, four Panchayat Samities and 22 Gram Panchayats. There are a total of 66 seats in the four Panchayat Samities and 462 seats in the 22 Gram Panchayats. A total of 1,804 candidates — 1,518 for Gram Panchayat elections, 245 for Panchayat Samities and 41 for Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad — have filed their papers, according to officials.

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