Groundwork to form a new political alignment to push forward the demand of Gorkhaland state has started with prominent leaders in the Darjeeling hills holding two rounds of meetings.

Ajoy Edwards, the president of the Hamro Party, is being projected as the leader of the bloc which is looking to oppose the present hill body, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

The leaders of the new alignment held two meetings in Kalimpong and Kurseong on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Apart from Edwards, leaders present at those meetings included former GTA Sabha chairman Pradip Pradhan, and former GTA Sabha members Prakash Gurung and Sanjay Thulung.

Some sitting Opposition GTA Sabha members also attended the talks.

“We will be holding meetings in other places and even in the Terai and the Dooars soon and will make Ajoy Edwards our medium,” said Prakash.

The bloc — there are chances that a new political party will be formed — wants to steer clear of both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

“Despite a written assurance, the BJP has failed to deliver. Even the TMC had once talked about providing a permanent political solution to the hills but it too has failed to fulfil the promise,” said Prakash.

The BJP had promised a “permanent political solution” for the hills and tribal status to 11 hill communities in the party’s 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto.

The bloc believes the dominant hill party, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), has failed to push forward the Gorkhaland demand, that finds widespread support in the Darjeeling region.

“The BGPM is focused on development and not Gorkhaland. Our one-point agenda will be Gorkhaland,” said Prakash.

Leaders of the proposed bloc say they sense that hill people are looking for a political party that reflects their aspirations and works on issues like identity.

“We have started this exercise after getting feedback from the ground on the need to start a new political innings in the hills,” said Prakash who was earlier with Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha but now thinks the party has lost its relevance in the hills.

Edwards said the current exercise was to unite like-minded people. “I think it is also time to discard the GTA,” he added.

Edwards’s Hamro Party had earlier won the polls for Darjeeling municipality
but lost control after most of its councillors joined the BGPM.

On Saturday, GTA chief executive Anit Thapa said all business establishments in the GTA area must write their signboards in Nepali also. “Or else, their trade licence will be cancelled,” Thapa said while speaking at a programme to mark the Bhasha Diwas week.