The new BJP government in Bengal has terminated the tenures of nominated chairpersons and members of various state bodies, including north Bengal’s 21 development boards and six municipalities.

Most of these bodies were controlled by the Trinamool Congress or their allies and served as a fulcrum for administrative control.

The home and hill affairs department on Monday issued an order for “termination of tenures of the nominated Member/Directors/ Chairperson of non-statutory bodies, entities and public sector undertakings and termination of tenures of re-employment/extension of service of officers/ officials in different offices under the State Government....”

In Darjeeling, the erstwhile Trinamool-led state government had formed 16 development boards mainly to counter the Bimal Gurung-controlled Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. In the north Bengal plains, the last government had similarly formed five development boards for ethnic communities such as the Gorkhas, Kamatapuris and Rajbanshis.

Development boards apart, the last government ran the municipalities of Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik through nominated members even though elections were due for the last four years. Municipality elections in these hill bodies were last held
in 2017.

Three other bodies in the north Bengal plains, the Jaigaon Development Authority in Alipurduar district and Raiganj and Buniadpur municipalities in the North and South Dinajpur districts, respectively, were run by administrators.

Raju Bista, the Darjeeling BJP MP, welcomed the new government’s decision.

“This will pave the way for the long-awaited elections in various municipalities across our Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region, and the state. After 15 years of attempts at subversion by TMC, democracy has finally prevailed in West Bengal,” said Bista in a written statement. "This order effectively removes all the nominated Municipal Chairpersons, nominated members of various Development Boards, nominated members of Education Boards, School Service Commissions, College Service Commissions, and other such entities."

The Mamata-led state government had formed the first development board in the state by notifying the Mayel Lyang Development Board on February 6, 2013, when its relations with the Gurung-led GTA soured. Since then, Mamata formed 15 more such boards in the hills, which took up projects such as building houses, homestays, community centres and pony roads, among others. However, the major project of the boards was to construct homes for beneficiaries at a cost of ₹2 lakh each.

There were, however, allegations of widespread corruption by some boards. “There must be a thorough inquiry into the workings of these boards in view of the allegations,” said a BJP leader.

A source said that since 2022, the Mamata government hadn’t released major funds to the boards.

Many hill observers felt that the Mamata government tried to use the boards for political leverage but was largely unsuccessful.