FORMER GJM LEADER TAMANG JOINS TRINAMUL

In what may herald a new chapter in the hill politics of Darjeeling and North Bengal, former Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Binay Tamang on Friday joined the Trinamul Congress, wishing to see its supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the Prime Ministerial face in next elections.

Mr Tamang’s entry to the TMC with former GJM MLA of Kurseong Rohit Sharma comes ahead of the polls in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the supervisory authority of the hills, which have been pending for a long time.

Mr Tamang headed the GJM after the hibernation of the outfit’s president Bimal Gurung during a prolonged unrest in the hills. He also served as the GTA chairman. His new move is expected to boost the TMC, which has been washed away by the BJP across the hills in the last assembly and parliamentary polls, to scuttle the demand for a separate statehood of Gorkhaland.

Mr Tamang said, “Ms Banerjee is a dynamic and visionary leader. We want to see her as the PM candidate in 2024. Abhishek Banerjee is also a skilled and dynamic leader. We were in a regional party earlier. Joining a national party, we now want to serve the public of North Bengal especially Darjeeling.”

State minister Bratya Basu, who handed over a TMC flag to Mr Tamang, said, “Some instigation from outside created a recent imaginary division between the plains and the hills. This is historically irrelevant. Now the people of the hills feel only Ms Banerjee can provide them welfare. The Bengalis and Gorkhas have been living peacefully in Darjeeling much before the British developed the hill town.”

Other hill party leaders also welcomed Mr Tamang’s new political stint.