Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has requested the Bengal government to restore the zilla parishad in the Darjeeling hills.

Informed sources told The Telegraph that Thapa was laying the foundation to demand a separate district of Kurseong and redraw the map of Darjeeling district by pushing for the zilla parishad.

Thapa on Wednesday met Pragreedip Kumar Mazumdar, minister, panchayat and rural development, in Calcutta and formally placed the demand for setting up zilla parishads in Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts.

“I am writing to bring to your attention the long-overdue establishment of zilla parishad in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.... The absence of zilla parishad in these districts has resulted in a significant gap in the democratic representation of the people,” Thapa wrote to Mazumdar.

Kalimpong became a separate district in 2017.

“We believe that a zilla parishad can be set up for Kalimpong district as it is not part of Darjeeling district,” said a source close to Thapa at the GTA.