Darjeeling, 24th May: For the past several months, Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) along with several organizations, unions and hill parties including Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha (GRNM), have been relentlessly opposing against the election for the semi-autonomous council Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The GJM supporters have also been staging a relay hunger strike in Darjeeling for the past few days. Despite belonging to different parties and organizations, all are voicing the same opinion of condemning the GTA. They claim that the GTA has miserably failed to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the region.
Regardless of the opposition, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is determined to hold GTA election in the hills. Speaking to reporters at an all-party meeting at the Darjeeling District Governors’ Office today, GTA Election Authority and Jalpaiguri Divisional Commissioner A.R. Bardhan stated that notification of GTA elections will be issued on 27th May and GTA elections will be held on 26th June, 2022 and counting of votes will be conducted on 29th June 2022.
