Monday, March 20, 2023
GJM, Hamro Party on alliance talk before panchayat poll in hills
EOI, DARJEELING, MARCH 20, 2023 : The second rung leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Hamro Party on Monday huddled for a meeting to test waters ahead of the proposed panchayat election in the hills.
The GJM and the HP are already in an alliance under the banner of Bharatiya Gorkhaland Sangharsha Samity to take forward the demand of a separate Gorkhaland state but have not announced a tie up for the panchayat polls to be held later this year. In the election to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the Darjeeling Municipality, the HP and the GJM had an unannounced tie up
In the floor test for the civic board, the GJM had extended support to the HP which had formed the board defeating the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha in the civic elections. Monday's meeting had an added significance because the panchayat election is being held in the hills after over two decades and victory for any political party will stand it in good stead.
The BGPM is presently running the affairs of the hills through the GTA with support from the West Bengal government.
"Today, our central leaders did not attend the meeting. We discussed the possibilities and strategies on how to approach the panchayat election. It was a fruitful meeting," said Ritesh Portel, an elected Sabahsad and former chairman of the Darjeeling municipality. Following the floor test of the civic body and the negative outcome, the HP had promised to defeat the BGPM in the panchayat election.
"Our party believes in Janta Raaj. The rural population has been deprived of benefits and government schemes for several years. The rural areas need to be developed and people benefitted," said Portel.
The HP is the primary opposition in the GTA even though they have alleged the BGPM of poaching their councillors and Sabhasads.
"We will soon hold another meeting which will be attended by our central leaders. All aspects including poll alliance and strategies will be chalked out," Portel said. Senior GJM leader Noman Rai said more meetings would be held to take forward the possible alliance.
"In today's meeting, we wanted to gauge the thoughts of our possible alliance partner. The meeting was fruitful. However, our central committee leaders will sit for another round of meeting to cement the alliance,” he said
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