Senior Trinamool leaders from Darjeeling hills have started resigning from the party, the move being attributed to Mamata Banerjee’s closeness to Anit Thapa, the president of Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and the Bengal ruling party's hill ally.

N.B. Khawash, general secretary of TMC (hills) and vice-president of the Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union, resigned from the party last Friday.

On Tuesday, four days later, 13 leaders from the Tukdah-Teesta Valley area, including the party president, trade union president, secretary, adviser and president of the women's wing, followed in Khawash's footsteps.

"More resignations will follow,” said a TMC source.

Although these leaders have not cited any reason for their resignation, sources in the party maintaine that many hill TMC leaders had been feeling sidelined by the high command who they felt had increasingly given more importance to Thapa.

"Khawash had been privately ruing that he was not being able to do something worthwhile for the community by remaining with Trinamool,” said a source.

Khawash, however, did not take calls from this newspaper on Tuesday.

Chief minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, during her visit to Darjeeling last month, stressed her party's alliance with the BGPM and reaffirmed that she would continue to work closely with the hill party.

"Didi also spoke about reviving development boards,” said a source, adding that a section of TMC leaders were increasingly feeling clueless on how to go about with party activities in the hills.

"Recently, a leader who had joined a TMC union was transferred, which many perceive was influenced by our hill ally. TMC leaders had to go to Calcutta to revoke that order,” said a source.

Another hill TMC leader said Khawash should have been able to create his own space in Darjeeling. “He was occupying an important party position in the hills. He should have been able to create his own space within the party,” said the leader.

L.B. Rai, chairman, TMC (hills), however, downplayed the situation. He said he was not apprised of any disgruntlement in the party until the resignations. “However, this is nothing new as every party faces such a situation. In the hills, there is a trend of hopping from one party to another and this is perhaps one reason why the hills do not develop,” said Rai.

Many observers believed that the current bonhomie between Mamata and Thapa made sense.

“It is the BGPM that is now in control of the GTA, the panchayats and the municipalities. One cannot think of the TMC coming to power in these bodies on its own,” said an observer.