Darjeeling, March 1: The Hill Affairs Department has official notified the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council of its decision to postpone the elections and hold it before November 30 this year.

The election to the council was scheduled for March this year.

However, a notification (no 60-HA) sent by D. Mukhopadhyay, secretary to the government of West Bengal, has cited the government inability to hold the council elections due to the impending Lok Sabha poll.

“In the opinion of the governor, circumstances exist in which the said period of five years render the holding of the general election for the constitution of the general council on or before March 25, 2004, is impracticable because of the ensuing general election to the Lok Sabha and the heavy commitment of the district administration in March/April 2004, in making preparation for the parliamentary elections,” the notification sent to the DGHC principal secretary and the district magistrate states.

Unlike the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly, the DGHC election is completely managed by the state government. The last election to the DGHC was conducted on March 17, 1999, with the general council sitting for its first meeting on March 26, 1999.

The general council consists of 42 councillors — 28 elected and 14 nominated. Of the nominated councillors, the state government nominates 11 councillors with the chairman of the DGHC nominating the remaining three in the general council.

D.K. Pradhan, spokesman for the People’s Democratic Front, said: “All along we knew that the elections would be postponed and it is not a surprise for us.” Even though the DGHC accord allows the state government to extend the tenure of the DGHC by one year, Pradhan was critical of the ruling party.

“The communists have shown their true colours and nowhere in the country can anyone be allowed to carry on even after the mandate given by the people is over. Democracy has been deprived,” he said.

Critics believe that after the formation of the DGHC, the GNLF is likely to face its biggest test from the Opposition during the election.

This is partly attributed to the split in the GNLF, which led to the formation of the GNLF (C) and the resurgence of the Opposition parties.

Even during the last DGHC elections, two ABGL leaders, B.K. Rai and Shankamani Rai, had managed to win the DGHC poll from Mirik and Jhaldhaka constituency respectively but later switched allegiance to the ruling GNLF.