Friendly fight the bane of UGA in Darjeeling hills

EOI, DARJEELING, 19 JUNE 2023 : The "United Gorkha Alliance"(UGA) is working towards solving the problem of candidates from different alliance parties filing nominations from the same seat.

The UGA consisting of the BJP, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists, Gorkha National Liberation Front, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Hamro Party (HP), and a few other political parties from the hills, was formed recently as an alliance for the upcoming panchayat polls against the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM).

After a meeting of the UGA at Darjeeling, BJP Darjeeling district vice president L.M. Lama said: "We discussed the nominations of candidates of our alliance in areas like Bijanbari, Takdah and Sukhia blocks in the meeting. Similar meetings were also held in Kurseong and Kalimpong. There is some dispute being seen regarding candidates in the lower levels which we are trying to sort out by 10 o’clock in the morning tomorrow," said Lama, adding that the alliance was intact and would stay that way.

According to him, the disputes that were being seen were of different parties from the alliance fielding in one seat; along with some candidates claiming them to be from the BJP when they were not the official candidates of the party. Lama said that BJP had fielded candidates in about 50 percent seats, while in the others candidates from alliance parties had fielded candidates.

Speaking on the same lines, the HP president Ajoy Edwards said: "In different places there are candidates from different parties in the alliance that are contesting for one seat. Strict instructions have been given that the party who has a stronghold in that area would contest and the others would withdraw." 

He said strict action by the respective parties would be taken against those who would not withdraw from those seats. The last date of withdrawal of candidates is on June 20th.

When asked about the BGPM claiming to have won uncontested in some seats, Lama said: "The Election Commission announced the dates for nominations all of a sudden and we could not get time to prepare and in some seats candidates could not be fielded. We oppose the way the EC announced the dates.”

On the other hand, Edwards alleged that the BGPM leaders were trying to threaten candidates of the UGA in different places to withdraw their candidature. Edwards alleged: "This is happening in the Relling-Kaijaley area where the BGPM leader Satish Pokhrel who is also the GTA Sabahad of that area is threatening the villagers that development projects would not come in their area if the alliance candidates did not withdraw. We condemn this."