Confusion prevails in the two factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha over filing of nominations as leaders of both the camps lack formal recognition as office-bearers of the party because of a legal tangle.

According to an order issued by Calcutta High Court and an observation made by the Election Commission of India, Bimal Gurung and Binay Tamang, who head the rival factions, don’t have recognition as authorised office-bearers of the Morcha.

The Morcha, sources said, is a registered unrecognised party. This means that in any election, the party’s name will appear next to the name of its candidate but unlike recognised parties, it cannot use its own symbol and will have to choose one from the symbols provided by the EC.

“The issue had come to light back in 2019, ahead of Lok Sabha elections. That is why Amar Singh Rai had contested as a Trinamul candidate in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat and Binay Tamang as an Independent in the Darjeeling Assembly bypoll. The same situation persists,” said a Morcha leader of the Tamang faction.

With this, the leaders of both factions who have already asserted that they would field candidates in the hill seats and that they would not support each other, have complicated the situation for Mamata Banerjee and her party, opined a veteran in hill politics.

“As both factions of Morcha, which is still considered the largest political force in the hills, sided with Trinamul, there was a renewed vigour within Trinamul leaders of Darjeeling and north Bengal as a whole about their prospects in the hill seats. But bickering among these factions and the issue of non-recognition have come as posers for Trinamul,” he said.

This prompted L.B. Rai, the president of Darjeeling (hills) Trinamul, to write to the state leadership last week requesting that Trinamul field candidates with the party’s ticket in these three seats.

Morcha insiders said if any or both factions field candidates in the next Assembly elections, they will have to contest either as Independents or as a candidate of their ally Trinamul.

“If we go with the first option, we have to take the onus to say during campaigns which faction of the Morcha this Independent candidate represents. This is necessary to ensure that the individual’s supporters do not get confused. This time, both sides (Morcha factions) have said they will field candidates in all three hill seats,” a Morcha leader from the Bimal Gurung camp said.

Keshav Raj Pokhrel, the spokesperson of the Tamang faction of Morcha, said: “During the campaign, we can use our party flag and say who is our candidate. This, we believe, can help us tide over the present situation.”