The Binay Tamang camp of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to hold a rally in Darjeeling hours before its leaders meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on November 3.

Mamata called Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa for a meeting for the first time after Bimal Gurung, who had been on the run for the past three years, resurfaced in Calcutta on October 21 and announced his decision to denounce the BJP-led NDA and support the Trinamul Congress in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections.

Even as Trinamul is jubilant over Gurung’s decision, the Tamang camp has made it clear that it does not want Gurung in the hills.

“On November 3, we will start two rallies simultaneously from Darjeeling railway station and Singamari and they will all culminate in a public meeting at Chowk Bazar,” said Keshav Raj Pokhrel, the spokesman for the Tamang camp.

Singamari is Gurung’s bastion.

“Our rally will start at 11am and end at 2 pm,” said Pokhrel. Mamata is scheduled to meet Tamang and Thapa at 3pm.

Observers believe the Darjeeling rally is another attempt by the Tamang-Thapa duo to prove that they, too, have strong support base in the hills.

Asked about their decision to hold a public meeting on D-day, where the future landscape of hill politics could be decided, Pokhrel said it was “a mere coincidence”.

“We have been holding rallies regularly in the hills,” he justified.

Gurung’s decision to join hands with Trinamul has upset political equations in the hills. However, it is not smooth sailing for Gurung either because of legal issues.