Darjeeling goes to municipal polls on Sunday with 107 other urban centres in Bengal but the election season is unlikely to end in the hills as the state government is reportedly looking at holding the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) soon.

Well placed sources said the state government is serious about holding the GTA polls, due since 2017, as early as possible.

“We have received a very strong signal from the state government that the government is now looking at holding GTA elections,” said a source who did not want to be named.

The GTA has been run by an administrator since 2017. The Darjeeling district magistrate is in charge of GTA at the moment, which was earlier run by hill leaders Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa.

Stakes are high. Most hill politicians admit in private that Darjeeling civic election results are likely to have a strong bearing in the GTA elections. “This is also why campaign for the civic poll was very competitive,” said an observer.

Top names, including party presidents Anit Thapa (Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatrantik Morcha), Bimal Gurung (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha), Mann Ghisingh (Gorkha National Liberation Front) campaigned from door to door this time, a first during the Darjeeling civic elections.

When Ajoy Edwards, president of Hamro Party, fell sick and could not campaign during the last leg of the campaign, his wife Namrata did.

From parliamentarians like Trinamul’s Shanta Chhetri and BJP’s Raju Bista and MLAs like the Morcha’s Ruden Sada Lepcha from Kalimpong and BJP’s Neeraj Zimba, everyone was in Darjeeling.

The campaign was intense on electronic and social media.

“This is the first time that we are getting recorded phone calls and text messages seeking votes in a civic election,” said a Darjeeling resident.

Most political parties came up with signature songs. “The campaign in Darjeeling this year was definitely not dull. It had dance, songs, smart video campaigns and lots of creativity,” added the resident.

The stakes are high, admitted a hill politician. “No party can afford to fare badly in this election. The results can make or break parties in Darjeeling.”

For Thapa, who floated the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatrantik Morcha in September last year and for Ajoy Edwards, who announced his Hamro Party in November, the civic poll is a “new beginning.”

Edwards said he wasn’t looking at post-poll alliances.

“We plan to contest all upcoming elections without tie-up,” added a leader of Hamro Party.

For Bimal Gurung, who reigned supreme from 2007 to 2017, it is also a new beginning after losing the recent Bengal Assembly elections. “We are confident that we will fare well in this election,” said Gurung.

The Trinamul Congress, which fielded its candidates in 10 of the 32 wards of Darjeeling municipality is, also confident of being a major player.

“The election results will have a major bearing on hill politics. We foresee Trinamul being a magnet that will pull many political forces towards us,” said Binay Tamang, senior Trinamul leader from Darjeeling.