A portrait of Tulku (left) at the site of the hunger strike in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Feb. 27: The political order might be changing in the hills, but the “divine” inspiration continues to be the same.

Karma Wangchuk Tulku does not dabble in politics. Instead, he is often seen touring gardens to meet his followers, two of whom are the biggest political names in the hills.

Subash Ghisingh has publicly paid obeisance to Tulku or Gurudev (as he is called) and declared him an avatar of Krishna. The GNLF chief had in 2001 built a monastery at Batasia for the 53-year old Buddhist monk, who never stayed there.

Ghisingh also shared the dais with Tulku, whom he invited to most official programmes.

In fact, Ghisingh as chairman of the DGHC, had felicitated Bhawajit Tamang, a resident of Pokhriabong valley for writing a book on Gurudev. Tamang is now a Morcha leader in Pokhriabong.

Bimal Gurung, too, has been a follower of the “holy man” — from the time he was initiated into politics in 1999 — but unlike Ghisingh, the emerging leader never spoke of him in public. The Morcha leader, however, is often heard saying that the “flag” has not been born without a thought. “The flag has been blessed. It has a meaning.”

Morcha insiders admit that Gurung seeks blessing from Gurudev almost everyday. A portrait of Tulku at Gurung’s chamber at the party headoffice in Singamari does not miss the visitor’s eye. The first thing that he does after entering his chamber is to light incense sticks and pay obeisance to it.