Setting up a new party in the Darjeeling hills: GTA chief

Time for the option of practical and pragmatic politics for the people: Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s Anit Thapa

In a significant development that may have a long-standing impact on the Darjeeling hills, Anit Thapa, chairperson of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), on Friday announced that he will be setting up a new party. Mr. Thapa, who has been heading the GTA, a regional autonomous body in the hills, said that the details of the party will be brought before the public in the first week of September. Mr. Thapa emerged in the political scene of the Darjeeling hills in 2017, when Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung had to flee the hills after an almost 100-day violent economic blockade from June to September 2017 over the demand for a separate State of Gorkhaland in the Darjeeling hills. After Mr. Gurung left the hills, Mr. Thapa and Binay Tamang, another GJM leader, entered in talks with the West Bengal government and normalcy gradually returned to hills. Both of them announced themselves as the leaders of the GTA and expelled Mr. Gurung from the party.