Gopal Lama, the Trinamul candidate backed by Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led a massive rally in the tourist town to file his nomination on Thursday.

The show of strength also led to massive traffic snarls right though the day in Darjeeling.

Lama, a retired bureaucrat, started his day by offering his prayers at the Mahakal temple where he was accompanied by BGPM leaders, including party president and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration chief Thapa.

The BGPM also held a massive public meeting at Chowrasta before proceeding to the Darjeeling district magistrate’s office where Lama filed his nomination.

"The voices from the hills are clear that they will ensure the win of Gopal Lama sir,” said Thapa.

The hill leader further added that just like the rest of the country the issue of the hills was "development".

“The issue in the country is development and so is it for the hills. The hills have in the past voted for peace and development and they will vote for the same this time too,” said Thapa.

BGPM leaders were seen stressing the “issue” as their candidate Lama had made a false start to his campaign recently by saying there would be "no issues left” if development work were carried out.

"We don’t have any such issues, issue means development, stress on peace. The government is undertaking development work on a large scale and if we carry on with development, there will be no issues left,” Lama had stated soon after his name was announced by Trinamul for the Darjeeling seat.

On Thursday, hundreds of BGPM supporters converged in Darjeeling to take part in the gathering at Chowrasta and the subsequent procession on the way to the DM’s office.

The resultant traffic snarls made schedules of many hill residents go haywire.

“I started from Darjeeling town at 10am and it took me four hours to reach Kurseong. Traffic jams were witnessed till late in the evening,” said a resident.

The travelling distance between Darjeeling and Kurseong is about one-and-a-half hours on a normal day.

Trinamul has never won the prestigious Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency.

Since 2009, the BJP has been on a winning spree in three back-to-back parliamentary elections.

However, the BJP's 2019 poll manifesto promises of Scheduled Tribe tag to 11 hill communities and a permanent political solution for the region remain unmet.

However, the BJP has again awarded the ticket to its sitting MP Raju Bista.

Lama, a new entrant in politics, faces a tough challenge from the sitting BJP MP.