Anit Thapa resigned as the chief executive and member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on Wednesday in a move likely to dramatically alter the political landscape of Darjeeling.

Thapa, the chief of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), stepped down from the GTA a day after Suvendu Adhikari visited Darjeeling for the first time after becoming the chief minister of the first BJP government in Bengal. The BGPM, an ally of the Trinamool Congress in the Assembly polls, lost all three hill seats to the BJP.

Thapa said he was stepping down from one of the most important posts in Darjeeling so that the GTA did not become “a hindrance”, now that “a double engine” government was in place in Bengal.

“Many feel that the GTA is a hindrance to better provision (for the region). It is now time for all of us to work for the community. From today (Wednesday), I am resigning as the chief executive and also a GTA Sabha member,” Thapa said. “I also have to take responsibility for the defeat (in the Assembly elections).”

“I also urge other (GTA) Sabha members to resign. We must not be seen as a hindrance.... I am confident that good days will come to our community as the double-engine government seems committed to our community’s betterment,” added Thapa.

Suvendu, on Tuesday, had threatened to punish those involved in the GTA’s alleged corruption. Thapa on Wednesday said he was ready to face any inquiry.

The GTA was formed in 2012, replacing the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Those in control of these hill bodies have invariably controlled hill politics. However, the change of guard in the state had put immense pressure on Thapa.

Following the BJP’s ascent to power in Bengal, a section of the 43 elected GTA Sabha members had been trying to form an independent coalition and resign from Thapa’s BGPM.

The BJP’s district president of Darjeeling hills, Sanjeev Lama, had hinted that its ally, the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was eyeing the GTA, although the latter strongly objected to Lama’s statement.

During the Assembly election campaign, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista repeatedly said they wanted to scrap the GTA.

On Wednesday, with Thapa quitting the GTA and expressing confidence that the double-engine government would do justice to the hill people, the pressure is now on the BJP to deliver. The hill people’s main demand is Gorkhaland.

“Now that Thapa has stepped down to make way for a better provision, which most hill people read as Gorkhaland, he has killed three birds with one stone,” said an observer.

Explaining what he meant by “three birds”, he said that for starters, Thapa had nipped the dissent among other GTA Sabha members in the bud. “Anyone now trying to occupy the GTA chair would now be seen as against betterment for the community,’ the observer added.

Secondly, even BJP allies like the Morcha, and Ajoy Edwards’s Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front could not afford to be seen as eyeing the hill body, the observer added.

Third and most important, the BJP is now under pressure as they have no other excuse but to deliver on its promises to the hill people, the observer added.

Following Thapa’s call, the deputy chief executive of the GTA, Sanchabir Subba, and GTA Sabha member from Mirik, Arun Singchi, also resigned from the hill body.

Neeraj Zimba, the former Darjeeling MLA and leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), an archrival of the BGPM, welcomed Thapa’s move to resign from the GTA. So did Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) leader Pratap Khati.

The tenure of the GTA extends till July 2027. If the state government deems fit, it can appoint an administrator to run the body. The body, however, can be scrapped by the Bengal Assembly.