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Updated May 24th, 2022 at 22:53 IST

Bimal Gurung to go on indefinite hunger strike from Wednesday over GTA polls, other issues

However, the opposition in the hills had claimed Gurung's action was a ploy to shelve the elections so his party can recover the lost ground in the hills.

Reported by: Kamal Joshi
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from Wednesday against the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration elections and other issues.

Earlier this month, Gurung had written a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and sought the transfer of the rest of the residual apartments to the GTA, an autonomous body to administer Darjeeling hills. He had also demanded the inclusion of the 396 Gurkha majority mouzas into it.

"I would request you to kindly call for bilateral talks for resolution of Memorandum of Proposal submitted by us before holding any further elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) when such elections could be deferred since 2017 till today," he had said.

However, the opposition in the hills had earlier claimed Gurung's action was a ploy to shelve the elections so that his party can recover the lost ground in the hills.

"GJM has lost much of its ground to the Hamro party in the hills, which recently won Darjeeling Municipality elections. They want to buy some time," a senior leader of the opposition BJP said. The Hamro party was founded in May 2018 by footballer Bhaichung Bhutia 

GTA polls to be held in June

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government has announced to hold polls to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in June, an official said. The elections to the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMP) will also take place in June.

“The state government in consultation with the State Election Commission has decided to hold elections to the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in June,” the administration had said in a statement.

The elections to the GTA, which was formed in 2011, were last held in 2012. There are 45-elected members in the GTA Sabha and five others are nominated by the governor.

The SMP was created in 1989 for the Siliguri subdivision, the plain areas of the Darjeeling district. Elections to the SMP, where there are nine seats, along with 22 panchayats and four panchayat samitis spread across four blocks of the Siliguri subdivision, were last held in October 2015.

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Published May 24th, 2022 at 22:53 IST

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