Rebel BJP MLA Joins TMC Ahead of West Bengal Polls, Political Activity Intensifies in Hills

PTI, Feb 19, 2026, Kolkata: Rebel BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma joined the ruling TMC on Thursday, delivering a setback to the saffron camp barely two months before the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and stirring fresh political churn in the Darjeeling Hills.

Sharma, the Kurseong MLA elected on a BJP ticket in 2021, formally joined the TMC at Trinamool Bhavan, the party's headquarters here, in the presence of senior leaders Bratya Basu and Shashi Panja, marking a dramatic turn in his fraught relationship with the BJP over the Gorkhaland issue.

The Gorkha leader's switch assumes added significance with the term of the 294-member West Bengal Assembly set to expire in May and Rajya Sabha elections scheduled next month.

With Sharma's exit, the BJP's strength in the Assembly has come down to 64, a factor that could weigh on electoral arithmetic in the Upper House polls, where MLAs are the electors.

For nearly two years, Sharma had been publicly airing his discontent with the BJP, accusing it of reneging on promises made to the Gorkhas.

He had repeatedly raised the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state and, at times, even pitched for a separate North Bengal, arguing that the Hills needed focused administrative attention and development.

His rebellion became overt during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when he contested from Darjeeling as an Independent, opposing the BJP's decision to renominate sitting MP Raju Bista.

The gamble failed electorally, but politically it deepened the fissures.

On Thursday, Sharma declared that he was joining the TMC not for a ticket but to align with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's politics.

"I am a free bird. I have not disrespected the mandate of the people of Kurseong. Some will criticise me, but I do not care," he said.

Accusing the BJP of misleading the Gorkhas, he said, "For 17 years, the Gorkha people have been living in darkness. The BJP is showing them a torch and calling it the sun. Should I play the politics of jumla (rhetoric) with my electorate? The BJP will do nothing for the Gorkhas."

In a pointed attack on the Centre, he alleged that funds meant for Bengal were blocked.

"Yet development did not stop. Mamata Banerjee is the only leader who can challenge today's degrading nationwide politics," he said, adding that he had been "forced to indulge in communal slogans" in his previous party despite believing that "humanity is the only religion".

Sharma also alleged that the Centre's interlocutor on the Hills issue lacked official sanction and was being projected before elections to "mislead" people once again.

His criticism of the BJP had earlier put him at odds with his party during a rare moment of consensus in the Assembly.

A few years ago, when the TMC government moved a resolution opposing any attempt to bifurcate West Bengal, the BJP, despite accusing the ruling party of politicising the issue, supported the motion in a rare show of bonhomie.

Sharma, however, had opposed the resolution and continued to advocate for Gorkhaland, going against the broader political messaging at the time.

Welcoming him into the party, state minister Bratya Basu said, "He is a gentleman from the hills who has been inspired by CM Mamata Banerjee and has responded to the call of our national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee."

Shashi Panja described Sharma as "an important Gorkha leader, a farmer, and someone deeply connected to the grassroots of North Bengal".

"It was evident that he felt uncomfortable in the Assembly as the BJP failed to participate in logical discussions. When BJP MLAs staged walkouts, he chose to remain seated. Many of his long-pending projects will now be materialised," she said.

The BJP, however, sought to play down the defection. Chief whip Shankar Ghosh said Sharma had kept himself isolated from the party for a long time and had little support on the ground.

"He contested against our MP Raju Bista and could secure only seven thousand votes. His joining the TMC will have no political impact. In 2026, both he and the TMC will sink together," Ghosh said.

Another BJP leader, Rahul Sinha, accused Sharma of "betraying the people of the Hills" and said such leaders "find their place in the TMC".

Regarded as a key political organiser in the Darjeeling Hills, Sharma was once a close loyalist of Bimal Gurung, the supremo of the GJM, and played a pivotal role during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

At a time when Gurung was away from the Hills, Sharma effectively operated on behalf of the Gurung faction, coordinating political strategy on the ground.

He was instrumental in forging an understanding with the GNLF to counter the Binay Tamang-led faction of the GJM, a consolidation widely seen as crucial to the victory of BJP candidate Raju Bista in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.

Political observers say the timing of the defection is crucial.

The Darjeeling Hills have traditionally been a BJP stronghold in recent elections, with regional aspirations over identity and autonomy shaping voting behaviour.

A section of analysts believes Sharma's entry may help the TMC make incremental gains among Gorkha voters, while others argue that the hill politics remains personality-driven and fluid, and one defection may not dramatically alter the larger calculus.

Yet, symbolically, the move allows the TMC to project cracks in the BJP's Hills bastion at a time when every seat counts.