Bengal Assembly Polls 2026: Seat-Sharing Deadlock Grips BJP As BGPM Seizes Early Momentum In Darjeeling

Darjeeling: Darjeeling, the queen of the hills, looks all set for an old yet intensifying paradox of relief and fear as political temperatures rise ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. The BJP has moved its knight in the game of first to gain psychological advantage over the Trinamool Congress (TMC) by releasing its candidate list ahead of the TMC.

The move, however, appears to have revealed fault lines within the BJP alliance in Darjeeling. The saffron camp now finds itself in a classic “caught between a rock and a hard place” situation, wrestling with the conflicting ambitions of its varied Hill allies: the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and Ajay Edwards’ Indian Gorkha Janashakti Front.

The GNLF, earlier known as Gorkhaland National Liberation Front, is unwilling to vacate its seat won previously. Currently, the seat is being held by the GNLF’s Neeraj Zimba. Neeraj Zimba is a member of a dominant party in the central government. Nevertheless, the equation has been hampered by Ajay Edwards’ switching sides, who just got control of the Darjeeling Municipality before losing out to BGPM. Edwards now has his eyes set on a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Former “not crowned king” of the Hills, Bimal Gurung, also wants to re-establish himself.

Earlier, the BJP was able to keep the GJM and GNLF happy by offering each one a seat. Amid the NDA’s seat-sharing negotiations, the ruling Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) acted with precision. Within hours of the election schedule announcement on Sunday, party chief Anit Thapa declared candidates for all three Hill seats: Bijay Rai for Darjeeling, Amar Lama for Kurseong, and incumbent MLA Ruden Lepcha for Kalimpong. Notably, Thapa’s candidates will contest under their party symbol and not that of the TMC, though they are allied to the TMC, as a mark of mutual respect, which he claims is not in the BJP camp.

Thapa said, “The TMC has allowed us the space to contest alone; they respect our decision. The BJP is indifferent towards its allies. It does not pay heed to anyone. This time we will win all three seats.”
The BGPM, the ruling party of the hills, has made quite a splash in these three Assembly seats. BJP’s ally parties are in a quandary in the absence of any agreement on seat sharing. According to sources, one of the seats of Darjeeling and Kalimpong has been won by GJM. The Indian Gorkha Janashakti Front of Ajay Edwards has claimed Darjeeling, on the other hand.

GNLF whose MLA is Neeraj Zimba won the Darjeeling seat in the assembly elections last time. For this reason, the GNLF is unwilling to cede that seat. This is where the issue of seat sharing arrangements arose. In light of the complications, the BJP has decided to concede the Kalimpong seat to the Morcha. But the trouble is with the other seats. It is yet to be decided if they will field their candidates like the BJP or not. The Morcha's general secretary, Roshan Giri, said, "Our discussions are still on. We have not yet reached a final decision."

The BJP's Hill District president, Kalyan Dewan, said, "Discussions with our alliance partners are currently underway. Everything will become clear in due course." Ajay Edwards commented, "No decision has yet been made regarding where or how we will contest the elections. Discussions on this matter are currently taking place within our party's Central Committee level."