The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) president, Anit Thapa, on Sunday asserted that his party would maintain cordial relations with the Trinamul Congress government for the sake of the development of the Darjeeling hills and the creation of more income opportunities for the people.

Thapa, who kicked off his political campaign for the upcoming elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) through a public meeting at Pokhriabong, also made it clear that like any other resident of the hills, his key demand would also be Gorkhaland.

“Being a Gorkha son, I also support the demand for Gorkhaland and have never opposed it. But as long as we remain within this state (Bengal), we will continue to work with the state government for development and employment generation for the people of the hills. Also, the demand for statehood is something that is not associated with the state government. There is no point in creating unrest in the hills over the issue,” he said.

Thapa’s clarification comes barely 24 hours after Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung announced that if the Mamata Banerjee government did not hold talks on a “permanent political solution” for the hills and went ahead with the GTA polls, he would launch an indefinite hunger strike.

The BGPM is perhaps the first regional political party that kicked off the campaign for the GTA polls which are slated to be held in June. Leaders and supporters from Sukhiapokhri, Pokhraybang and Nagri — all located in the Darjeeling Sadar block — attended the meeting at Pokhriabong, which is around 90km from here.

Addressing hundreds of BGPM supporters, Thapa talked about the prevailing peaceful situation in the hills and said hardly any strike or political clash had taken place since 2017 (when a violent statehood movement had rocked the hills).

He has also urged people to shun the “old concept” of hill politics and stop criticising the “Bengal government” ahead of any election and scoffed at Gurung for his announcement of hunger strike.

“We have found that development works were carried out in the hills. Hotels are open, hundreds of homestays are running, there is no disruption in transport and people are making regular earnings because of the peaceful situation. When such normality is prevailing here, there is no point in talking about any ‘fast’,” said Thapa.

The BGPM and the Hamro Party, which is headed by Ajay Edwards, are ready to contest the GTA elections. However, other regional parties like Gurung’s Morcha, the GNLF and the Bharatiya Gorkha Suraksha Parishad hinted that they would abstain from the polls.

“The chief minister wants all these parties, which include Trinamul’s allies, to participate in the GTA elections. But as some parties are planning to refrain from the polls, there might be a change in the political situation in the hills. It would be interesting to see how Mamata Banerjee manages to address the situation,” said a political observer.