Anit Thapa, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha president and GTA head, on Sunday made public his family outing to south India after five days of being away from the public eye.

After Christmas, Thapa was not seen in public, giving rise to speculations that he was away in Delhi or Calcutta to forge political equations.

Sources said speculations weren't surprising at a time when new permutations and combinations are at play in the hills ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

On Sunday, Thapa on his Facebook page stated: “I along with my family members have come to Puttaparthi for a few days.” The message was accompanied by a set of nine photographs, including those with his family members.

Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh is widely known as the birthplace of Indian spiritual leader and guru Sathya Sai Baba and his ashram Prasanthi Nilayam. A large number of his followers from Darjeeling-Sikkim region visit the place during winter when hill schools are closed for three months.

“The year 2023 has been a year of achievement and I have thanked Sai for the achievement. I have also prayed that 2024 is a year of peace and love for the hills,” stated Thapa.

Thapa was publicly visible till Christmas.

“He addressed the party’s public meeting at Mirik and also attended the MELOtea fest and Darjeeling Hill Marathon in Darjeeling between December 22 and 24. He also spent Christmas at an old-age home at Takdah,” said a source.

After his absence from public life since then, speculations grew. “Of late, there were talks even among his party leaders about his whereabouts. His presence at Puttaparthi was widely circulated in the party’s WhatsApp group only once the information became public today (Sunday),” said a BGPM source.

The interest in Thapa’s absence from public life comes at a time when new equations are emerging in the hills.

On Saturday, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) suspended its leader Mahendra Chhetri for meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on December 26. The party, which is an ally of BJP, claimed that it was not aware of Chhetri’s meeting with Rahul.

Ajoy Edwards, the president of Hamro Party, also met Rahul same day. So did Munish Tamang, president, Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, an apolitical body of the Indian Gorkhas.

Thapa is an ally of Trinamul, which is a part of the anti-BJP bloc INDIA along with Congress. However, Thapa does not share cordial relations with Binay Tamang, the Congress in-charge of the hills.

“In this backdrop, Thapa’s absence was widely discussed. On Sunday, his decision to post family pictures was also unusual. He probably was trying to affirm before the public that he was strictly on a family vacation,” said an observer in the hills.