Activists of political parties joined the protest against the Darjeeling municipality’s decision to hold a “tourism festival” at Chowrastha, the town’s most famous square, on Tuesday.

Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards, who is also an elected member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabha, sat at the site where bamboo stalls came up at Chowrastha.

Edwards was soon joined by about a dozen HP leaders later on Tuesday.

“The place belongs to every individual and we cannot allow it to be destroyed by individuals for their vested interest,” said Edwards.

Later, Edwards was seen “helping” the workers dismantle a portion of the stalls as “word” was reportedly passed on to the workers from their bosses to dismantle the same.

Apart from the Hamro Party, BJP councillors also voiced their protest against the civic body’s decision.

“It is not a tourism festival but an expo that is being planned at Chowrastha,” said Pemila Dorjee, a BJP councillor. Pemila and five other Hamro Party councillors had joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Dipendra Thakuri, Darjeeling municipality chairman, had on Monday told
this newspaper that a
tourism festival and not an expo was being planned at Chowrastha.

This was after various social organisations protested the decision to set up stalls at Chowrasta.

Taking a dig at Edwards, Thakuri, who was once with the Hamro Party, said: “I saw the protests at Chowrastha but they were the same people who used to organise the Darjeeling Carnival at Chowrasta. This was amusing to me.”

Edwards and his team used to organize the Darjeeling Carnival mostly in December many years ago. The carnival was taken up by the government subsequently.

“Organising a tourism festival at Chowrastha is not new and why should there be an exception during our tenure?” asked Thakuri.

The civic chairman, however, said they were willing to bring down the bamboo structures.

“I understand that the protest is because of bamboo structures. We are willing to replace the bamboo structures with canopy-type light structure material,” said Thakuri who added that they were planning the festival for “10 to 15 days.”