Jolt to Hamro Party: Councillor defects to BGPM in Darjeeling
darjeeling: The Hamro Party (HP) suffered another jolt with the Municipal Councillor of Ward 10 of Darjeeling defecting to Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM.) With this the number of BGPM councillors stand at 17 and HP at 14. One seat is vacant in the 32 ward Darjeeling Municipality.
In a joining ceremony held at the BGPM party office in Judge Bazar, Darjeeling, president Anit Thapa welcomed Sudha Lama, Councillor, Ward 10 into the BGPM fold. “More Municipal Councillors and GTA Sabhasads will be joining the BGPM. They have hardly been allowed to work even when they were in power,” alleged Thapa.
He stated that the main attraction of the BGPM party that has sparked defection from other parties is the positive attitude of the party. “Attracted by our ideology and the way of functioning, they (including Sudha Lama) have been joining us. We welcome them to the BGPM family,” added Thapa.
Incidentally, HP in March 2022 had won 18 seats; BGPM 9 seats; TMC 2 and GJM 3 in the Darjeeling Municipality. They had formed the board in the Darjeeling Municipality. Later Amar Lama of the BGPM had resigned from Councillorship.
Six Councillors had then defected from HP to BGPM with the HP-GJM alliance having 15 seats and BGPM-TMC combined 16. On December 28, 2022, the Chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality owing allegiance to Hamro Party (HP) was removed from office by a majority in a floor test. On January 16, the BGPM had taken charge of the Darjeeling Municipality.
With Sudha Lama defecting, the number now stands at 17 BGPM and 14 HP.
“The new board is doing well. Working as a team they have been cleaning up the Municipal area and undertaking various development projects. They have also brought in funds from the State Government for various projects. The opposition has been trying very hard to create obstacles but in vain,” added Thapa.
The HP is not willing to give much importance to the crossing over.
“People who want to mint money should not join the Hamro Party. The party however will not be affected with a few crossovers. We are just 15 months old and we will definitely strengthen our organisation in the coming days” stated Robert Chettri, vice-president, Hamro Party.
