Neeraj Zimba, the secretary-general of the Gorkha National Liberation Front and the Darjeeling MLA, has reminded Union home minster Amit Shah that it was on his “request and in the spirit of coalition dharma” that the GNLF had supported the BJP in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections.

The reminder comes after the Election Commission of India removed the GNLF from the list of registered unrecognised parties on September 19 for failing to contest any election conducted by the EC since 2019.

Zimba, a GNLF leader, had successfully contested from the Darjeeling Assembly seat in 2019 and 2021 on a BJP ticket.

“Sir, it is pertinent to remind you that since 2019, the GNLF has stood firmly behind the BJP in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the Darjeeling region of West Bengal,” the letter written by Zimba on September 23 reads.

“On your request and in the spirit of coalition dharma, our party extended unequivocal support to the BJP candidates in all the three Assembly seats of Darjeeling Hills and Kalimpong,” Zimba has written.

The MLA said the history of the GNLF was inseparably linked to the aspirations of Indian Gorkhas. The party founded on April 5, 1980, by Subash Ghisingh had led the Gorkhaland agitation in the mid-1980s and signed an agreement with the central and state governments in 2005 to bring the Darjeeling hills under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

“To erase such a historic organization from the register of recognized political parties on a technicality of election participation is to negate four decades of legitimate political struggle and service,” Zimba has said.

The EC delisted 474 parties from across the country, including 12 from Bengal, for their failure to participate in elections in the past six years.

In its order to delist the political parties, the EC has stated: “Whereas, 474 political parties listed at Annexure -A enclosed herewith, have been found to not having contested any election conducted by the Election Commission continuously for six years, since 2019….”

The EC had granted a hearing to the GNLF on August 29 to explain its stand.

Despite the delisting, the EC still has a provision for aggrieved parties to appeal before the commission within 30 days of the order.

However, the GNLF has sought Shah’s intervention.

“We therefore humbly request your intervention in this matter. As the Hon’ble Home Minister and as the guardian of India’s federal and democratic spirit, we seek your guidance and support in engaging with the Election Commission of India so that the registration of the GNLF is restored,” said Zimba, who has written the letter “on behalf of the President (Mann Ghisingh) and Members of the GNLF”.

“Our continued existence as a recognised political party is not merely an institutional need; it is a democratic necessity for the Gorkha community, which has consistently reposed its faith in the BJP led-led NDA,” stated Zimba.