Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will visit the Darjeeling hills next week for three days and attend some official programmes, sources in Nabanna said on Saturday.

Mamata’s visit to the hills will be almost after a year while she will be in Darjeeling after two years. In December last year, she was in Kurseong to attend a family function.

According to sources, the chief minister will reach Darjeeling on November 11 evening. On November 12, she will have a meetingwith members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the chairpersons of the development boards of different hill communities.

Altogether, there are 16 development boards constituted by the state government for the socio-economic development of the communities and the conservation of their cultural heritage.

The GTA, formed in 2012, is being run by the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) headed by Anit Thapa. The BGPM is an ally of the Trinamool Congress.

Political veterans in the hills said Mamata’s proposed meeting with the GTA members and the board heads was significant as elections to Kurseong, Mirik and Kalimpong municipalities were due.

A podium being erected at Chowrasta in Darjeeling on Saturday for the chief minister's programme

“Some important decisions might be taken at the meeting on development issues. Also, in 2022, the state expressed concern over the allegations of corruption levelled against some of the development boards in the utilisation of funds provided by thegovernment. There areindications that specific instructions might be sent to the development boards,” said a source.

In 2017, the TMC had bagged the Mirik municipality — the party’s first major win in any civic election in the hills.

The visit will be Mamata’s first official tour of the hills after last year’s panchayat elections. In the hills, there were no rural bodies for almost two decades. The elected rural bodies were formed last year when the elections were held across the state. The BGPM is in power in most of these panchayats.

On November 13, the chief minister will inaugurate the Saras (Sale of Articles of Rural Artisans Society) Mela at Chowrasta, the most popular promenade in Darjeeling.

“Artisans in the hills and the plains have been invited to participate in the fair. They will exhibit handicrafts and several other items at the event,” said a source in the administration.

The following day, Mamata will leave for Siliguri. She will attend an event at the Adivasi Bhavan in Rajarhat of Calcutta on November 15 to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, sources said.