The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) has decided to organise a “mass joining” programme at Mirik on Friday, aiming to consolidate its base before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Party sources said known elected and Opposition members are expected to join the BGPM at the meeting scheduled to be held at Allay Tar in Mirik.

BGPM president and GTA chief Anit Thapa announced the “mass joining” event, which underlines its importance.

“A lot of people want to join us, they are in touch with me and want me to go to their places for the joining programme. We have, however, decided to hold one centralised mass joining programme at Mirik on December 22 (Friday),” said Thapa.

Thapa added that many apolitical people were also willing to join the BGPM.

“A lot of people want to join us as they have started liking the party’s thought process. We are hopeful that many (who join us) will guide our party and be our guardians in the days to come,” said Thapa.

“We believe that our record of being able to delivering on our promises is helping our party grow,” said a BGPM leader.

The party managed to hold panchayat elections in the hills after nearly two decades and did well in them.

Recently, the BGPM was on the back foot for initially backing the state government’s policy to grant only up to 5 decimals of land to tea garden residents. Thapa, however, revised his stand and eventually managed to convince the government to reverse the decision and conduct a fresh survey on “as in where is basis” without reference to any cap on land.

“Thapa’s success in reversing the decision and restarting the land survey has given a major boost to the party,” said an observer.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit to Kurseong has also helped the party.

“The chief minister made two major announcements related to the revival of the regional school service commission (SSC) and retirement benefits for the GTA employees. These two announcements made a major impact in favour of the BGPM,” said an observer.

The GTA employs around 4500 workers. The SSC has been defunct in the hills since 2003.

“With the party in a comfortable zone, it seems Anit Thapa is going all out to consolidate his support base just before the Lok Sabha elections,” said an observer.