Darjeeling, April 20: Casting his predecessor and main opponent Nar Bahadur Bhandari into political oblivion, Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling looks set to emerge as the new messiah of the Gorkhas.

Arriving in Darjeeling on what he called a two-day “apolitical” visit, Chamling was at his best today as politician, playing down his “achievements” as a Gorkha leader and staying clear of any controversy.

But at the packed Gymkhana Rink Skating Hall, few mistook his emerging status, especially when the All India Tamang Buddhist Association felicitated him for including the Limbus and Tamangs in the ST list in his state.

“I am a politician paying an apolitical visit to Darjeeling. I have come here to meet the people,” Chamling said to thunderous applause. He said he had no intention of getting involved in local politics.

Chamling refused to “take the credit” for including the communities in the ST list. He said the West Bengal government and the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council chairman Subash Ghising should also be applauded for declaring the Limbus and Tamangs as Scheduled Tribes.

“The chief minister of West Bengal and members of the Assembly have played a major role in inclusion of the communities in the ST list, as have the members of the Sikkim Assembly,” Chamling said.

Without naming Bhandari, the chief minister issued a veiled warning to the “opportunist” political parties, which had slammed the inclusion as “a move designed to create a rift in the Gorkha community.”

He said those parties should refrain from “communal politics” and help uplift the Gorkhas instead.

The All India Tamang Buddhist Association praised Chamling for the inclusion, which the organisation had been pressing for more than two decades.

Chamling held out an open invitation to the Gorkhas, saying he would do whatever he could for them as chief minister.

Until recently, Bhandari tried to project himself as a messiah of the Gorkhas. He was lauded once for the getting the Nepali language recognised under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

But Bhandari appears to have lost his pre-eminence since his dominance in Sikkim politics waned in the mid-90s.

Ghising, the Gorkha National Liberation Front chief, too, was seen once as the messiah of the Gorkhas.

But since the 2001 attempt on his life, the DGHC chairman has eschewed the spotlight, mostly staying indoors and losing his clout at national level as a Gorkha leader.

Chamling has endeared himself to the Gorkhas by recognising most of their languages such as Gurung, Newar, Tamang, Rai and Limbu in his state as chief minister.

His decision to teach the students in those languages has gone down well with the Gorkha community.

Chamling said his visit to Darjeeling gave him an “opportunity” to exchange cultural and other ideas.

To a burst of applause, he said he had come here to “learn from” the Darjeeling intelligentsia.

Before returning to Gangtok, the chief minister, accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues, will meet the literary figures, environmentalists and other cultural personalities at Loreto College’s auditorium tomorrow.