The Gorkha National Liberation Front and the Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have come together to back the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, saying “Gorkhaland is much more important than individual aspirations”.

The GNLF and the Morcha were always bitter rivals in the Darjeeling politics. After Bimal Gurung had formed the Morcha in 2007, the GNLF was reduced to a minor political entity in the hills and its supreme leader Subash Ghisingh was forced to flee to the plains.

With the Bengal government slapping several cases on Morcha president Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri in connection with the violent agitation for the statehood in 2017, the two have been keeping away from the hills. The control of the party in the meantime was seized by Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa who now claim to be the president and the general secretary of the Morcha, respectively.

Political analysts said Gurung had tied up with the GNLF because the Binay camp of the Morcha had entered into an alliance with the Trinamul Congress to defeat the BJP in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.

Addressing a press meet with leaders of the Gurung camp in New Delhi on Tuesday, GNLF spokesman Neeraj Zimba said: “We have jointly organised the press conference vis-à-vis (to express) our support to the BJP.”

Leaders of the GNLF and the Morcha present at the news meet said the new political development “reflected the collective conscience and aspirations of the Gorkhas” and the “demand of Gorkhaland is much more important than individual aspirations”.

The remark was seen to be directed at Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa.

But there are no indications that whether the candidate for the Darjeeling seat will be from the BJP or either of the two hill party.

Lopsang Lama was among the Morcha leaders present at the press meet.

The analysts said the announcement of the new alliance had suddenly changed the political landscape in the hills.

“Without the support of a hill party, it would have been very difficult for the BJP to be a serious contender in the Darjeeling constituency, given its lack of organisation in the hills. With the GNLF’s backing, its election machinery will be available for the BJP in the hills,” said an observer.

The Trinamul Congress-Morcha (Binay) combine has already named sitting Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai as the candidate in Darjeeling. He will contest on the Trinamul symbol.

Speaking on the sidelines of a public meeting at Lebong in the hills on Tuesday, Binay Tamang sought to make light of the new alliance. “The GNLF doesn’t have much support base in the hills and those leaders (Bimal Gurung and others) are not physically present here. This alliance will hardly have an impact,” he said.

“The BJP has taken us for a ride in the past 10 years; they have not fulfilled any of our demands. I vow to defeat them not just in Darjeeling but also in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri,” said Tamang.