The Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to gherao Lal Khoti, the headquarters of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), on May 14 to protest against alleged corruption at the hill body.

Noman Rai, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha, won the Darjeeling Assembly seat on a BJP ticket, providing a major boost to the party that had been struggling to make a mark in hill politics for many years.

“There has been corruption at the GTA, right from water projects to road construction. We will gherao Lal Khoti on May 14,” said Gurung.

He urged Morcha supporters to gather at Chowrasta, the famous promenade in Darjeeling town, and then proceed towards the GTA headquarters.

“The protest will be held peacefully. On that day, we will also celebrate our (electoral) success,” said Gurung.

The Morcha chief indicated that the party would launch a similar campaign against the alleged corruption at the Darjeeling municipality. Both the GTA and the municipality are under the control of the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM).

“At the Darjeeling municipality, some councillors have taken anything between ₹1 lakh and ₹3 lakh to provide drinking water connections. Drinking water projects, worth more than ₹200 crore and funded by the Centre, have not been completed,” said Gurung.

The BJP won all three seats in the hills — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong — with the support of the Morcha and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). In the three constituencies, the BJP defeated the BGPM, which is an ally of the Trinamool Congress.

The BGPM also controls a majority of panchayats in the hills. With the change of government in Calcutta, BGPM’s rival will have an upper hand in hill politics.

In Kalimpong, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista reiterated that the GTA was not a solution but an impediment to finding a political solution for the Darjeeling region.

GNLF protest

GNLF workers on Wednesday visited GTA property Sailabas in Darjeeling and planted the party’s flag on the premises to protest against the hill body’s decision to lease out the building and the land.

Claim to office

On Wednesday morning, Morcha supporters went to the BGPM office in Kalimpong, saying it was once the Morcha office.

Sources, however, said the structure actually belonged to the district administration. “We have no problem if the office is used by the administration for public welfare,” said a Morcha leader from Kalimpong.

The BGPM was formed by leaders who broke away from the Morcha when Gurung had been on the run from 2017 to 2021 following the crackdown on the violent Gorkhaland agitation.