KOLKATA: Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) will support Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the forthcoming election for Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), announced Roshan Giri on Thursday.
He said GJM will support TMC in all the 47 wards. He remarked that GTA election should be held but before that Siliguri Municipal Election should be held.
Binoy Tamang, who was the former president of GJM, joined TMC recently. Political experts said the Nepali voters would play a significant role in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation election.
"Except empty assurances, we have not got anything from the BJP. We have full faith in Didi and will urge all Gorkha voters to vote for TMC," stated the party's General Secretary Roshan Giri.
According to the political experts, it is for the first time in the recent years that a hill party has openly come out in support of a political party in the civic polls.
Binoy Tamang had already said he would campaign in those Siliguri wards where Gorkhas live.
According to political experts, there are about five to six wards in Siliguri, where votes of Gorkhas play a crucial role.
Earlier, Tamang had fallen out with Bimal Gurung during the agitation in the Hills over the demands for a separate state in 2017. He had then formed a new faction. However, later the two factions merged. Last year, Tamang resigned from GJM.
Tamang was made the chairman of the board of administrators in the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration by the state government. He had joined hands with the state government and foiled the Gorkhaland movement in 2017.