The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha’s shrinking footprint at the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabha became more apparent on Friday when 12 elected members resigned from the party.
They haven't, however, quit the GTA Sabha.
“We decided to resign from the party as we do not want to be tagged as corrupt. We had no clue that Anit Thapa would resign from the GTA. All these circumstances made us resign from the BGPM,” said a GTA Sabha member who resigned on Friday.
Thapa, the president of the BGPM, resigned as the chief executive of the GTA on Wednesday, a decision that took the party leaders by surprise. He also quit the GTA Sabha.
The Telegraph had reported last week that 12 GTA Sabha members had met discreetly outside Darjeeling and planned to quit the BGPM. Late last month, some GTA Sabha members were purportedly planning a coup against Thapa within the hill body.
Sources said Thapa had got a whiff of the rebels' move.
“Thapa, however, cornered everyone by deciding to quit the GTA Sabha, stating that his move was for the betterment of the Gorkha community and to address concerns that the GTA was a hurdle to a better administrative body,” said an observer.
Thapa had also requested BGPM leaders to vacate the seats at the GTA Sabha. Following the call, at least eight from the BGPM announced their decision to quit the GTA Sabha
Asked if the 12 GTA Sabha members who had resigned from the BGPM on Friday would also quit the GTA Sabha, one of them deflected the question.
“All these people, including Anit Thapa, had only announced that they would resign from the GTA. We are yet to see their resignation papers. Once we are sure they have resigned, we, too, will resign if need be. But at the moment, we have only resigned from the BGPM,” said a rebel leader.
The 12 GTA Sabha members sent a letter signed by all of them to Thapa, announcing their resignation from the BGPM.
Thapa held a meeting of the BGPM's central committee in Kurseong on Friday and reiterated that he had quit the GTA for the betterment of the community, as many had perceived the hill body to be a hurdle to better provision for the hills.
The BJP had promised a "permanent political solution" for the Darjeeling hills.
“We must also support Raju Bista (Darjeeling MP of the BJP) at this hour as he is working for our community. This is the time to work for the community and not think much about our political party,” Thapa said on Friday.