Political preparations for long-pending Kalimpong civic polls have intensified, with the BJP and hill-based parties holding organisational meetings that placed drinking water, waste management, drainage, municipal roads and parking among the issues facing residents.
The BJP held a preparatory meeting on Monday through its Kalimpong Municipality election monitoring committee. Darjeeling MP and BJP national spokesperson Raju Bista attended the meeting, which also discussed trade and tourism, land rights for residents of Darjeeling Improvement-fund land, a proposed medical college in Kalimpong, healthcare and sanitation.
“Kalimpong deserves better services and a better future, and we are committed to ensuring this,” Bista said, according to a statement issued after the meeting. He said party leaders had discussed the forthcoming elections, problems residents were facing and ways to address them on the ground.
The meeting was attended by West Bengal law minister Biraj Biswas, BJP Darjeeling district president Sanjeev Lama, Kurseong MLA Sonam Lama and other senior district leaders. The civic agenda discussed at the meeting places day-to-day municipal services at the centre of the election groundwork, rather than limiting the exercise to organisational planning.
The BJP’s ally, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, held a separate meeting at its central office in Singamari, Darjeeling, on Sunday. Preparations for municipal elections and an anti-corruption campaign were among the issues discussed by party representatives from subdivision and town committees across the hills. Morcha president Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri attended the meeting.
According to a source cited in the report, the Morcha discussed electoral strategy, organisational preparedness and public outreach. Its leadership also stressed transparency in development projects, accountable administration and the need to build corruption-free hills.
The Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front, led by Ajoy Edwards, held a central executive committee meeting at its Kalimpong office on Sunday. The party reviewed its organisation, discussed its possible electoral role and considered ways to strengthen coordination between workers and residents. It did not disclose any final decision on its election strategy.
The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, led by Anit Thapa, has appointed three election in-charges to oversee preparations for municipal elections in Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik. Elections to the municipalities in the three towns have been pending since 2022. The latest meetings indicate that political parties are now expanding their organisational preparations while presenting civic delivery, accountability and local infrastructure as central campaign issues.
