The Anit Thapaled Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM)on Monday sought a special meeting for a floor test of the Hambro Party-helmed board at Darjeeling municipality.

“We handed over a letter to the chairman, Ritesh Portel, seeking an extraordinary special meeting for his removal from the office,” said Mukunda Raj Baraily, a BGPM councillor.

All two Trinamul Congress councillors — GaneshSarki and Sanjay Gurung —were also part of a delegation that gave the letter to Portel of the HP.

On November 24, five Hamro Party councillors had joined the BGPM. Thapa’sparty claimed that councillor Dorjee Sherpa would also desert the HP and join the BGPM.

Trinamul announced outside support to the BGPM, taking the alliance tally to 16,which is the majority mark on the 31-member civic board.

The HP had been claiming that Dorjee Sherpa was still with the party.

However, on Monday, BGPM leaders submitted the letter to the chairman with the signatures of 16 councillors, including Sherpa. The letter isdated November 24.

Sources said the BGPM was mulling over electing Dipen Thakuri as the chairman and Baraily as the vice-chairman if the party gained control of the civic board. Thakuri was among the five who defected from theHP to the BGPM.

Seizure

Siliguri: The Border Security Force recovered a tokay gecko, a lizard species, from Agra village in South Dinajpur district on Sunday. The animal measuring about 10 inches was wrapped in a nylon net and kept hidden under a mango tree at the village.

In another incident, the BSF in Darjeeling district nabbed a 19-year-old Bangladeshi youth while he was trying to infiltrate into India. Rojob Ali was later handed over to Phansidewa police.

OUR CORRESPONDENT