A new political party named Gorkha National Liberation Front (Subashbadi) was formed in the Darjeeling hills by former lieutenants of Subash Ghisingh, who had founded the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in 1980 and ruled the region for two decades until 2008.
The parent GNLF is headed by Ghisingh’s son Mann but was delisted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in September for failing to contest polls in the past six years.
Neeraj Zimba, the GNLF’s secretary general, had contested and won from the Darjeeling Assembly seat in 2019 and 2021 on the BJP symbol.
The GNLF has said it will challenge the new party's name.
Bhanu Lama, a former councillor of the erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), said that they had decided to form the GNLF (Subashbadi) to uphold the ideology of Subash Ghisingh after the GNLF had been delisted.
“We have spent the cream of our political career with the GNLF. The party has a rich history and the legacy of Subash Ghisingh and his sacrifice cannot be forgotten. However, it was shameful to find the GNLF being delisted by the ECI,” said Lama, who is the chief convener of the new party.
The new party has decided to focus on getting the Sixth Schedule status implemented in the hills.
The central and Bengal governments and the DGHC had agreed in principle to bring the hills under the ambit of the Sixth Schedule. However, the Sixth Schedule bill was not passed in Parliament after Bimal Gurung formed the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and pursued an agitation in 2007 for the Gorkhaland state.
“Sixth Schedule is needed to protect our land, culture and our people,” said Lama.
“We will reveal the party’s plan in detail during a public meeting at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling on January 16,” said Lama.
Many former GNLF leaders like K.N. Subba and Bhim Lama were present when the party was launched at Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan (GDNS) hall on Monday.
GNLF leaders, however, said they would lodge a complaint with the ECI against the new party for using the GNLF name.
“We will raise our objection with the ECI on the use of our party name. We will even take the matter to court,” said Zimba.
The GNLF secretary general emphasised that the party was working with the core ideology of Subash Ghisingh, with his son, Mann, being unanimously elected as the party president.
Zimba alleged that the present set of leaders was indulging in politics of convenience. “During the party’s difficult times, leaders like Bhanu Lama and K.N. Subba had joined the Trinamool Congress. Now those people are talking about the Sixth Schedule status. They are indulging in politics of convenience during fair weather,” said Zimba.