Hamro Party elected 31-year-old Ritesh Portel as the chairman of Darjeeling municipality, making him the youngest chief of the civic body set up in 1850, and stamping the new party’s focus on the youth.

Yangzi Sherpa, 46, who was one of the party’s 17 women candidates to be fielded in last month’s 32-ward civic body election, is set to become the vice-chairperson.

Many believe Portel’s ascent to the top post of the civic body bears the seal of party president Ajoy Edwards, who however had lost the civic election from ward 22.

Portel, who is also the first person from the Scheduled Caste community to chair the Darjeeling municipality, was Edwards’s pointsman during the Covid-19 pandemic-related medical relief work.

He was in charge of managing the 80-odd oxygen concentrators that the Edwards Foundation had brought in during the pandemic, apart from taking care of other medical emergencies.

The social work done by Edwards during the pandemic also helped him in his sudden rise in hill politics.

On being the youngest chairman of the Darjeeling municipality, Portel said: “I take this as a challenge. It will be a collective teamwork and we promise to fulfill our promises in the manifesto.”

Edwards said the election of Portel was a clear message “to youths that it is time to create new leaders” .

“We also believe in gender equality and inclusiveness and we have started practising our ideas,” said Edwards.

Municipality vice-chairperson Sherpa has been associated with the Edwards Foundation for nearly three years.

The Hamro Party founder on Tuesday said the countdown to delivery had started.

Edwards had promised before the civic polls to start a free ambulance service for the poor, a diagnostic clinic for the elderly, coaching classes for competitive exams for the youth, an RTI cell for all citizens, immunisation and vaccine policy for pets, among others.

“We will deliver,” he said.

Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), which bagged nine seats in the civic election, will be the Opposition.

“We will take up the role of a constructive Opposition. We will cooperate with the new chairman but place our suggestions regularly,” said its leader Amar Lama, who, however, won’t be recognised as “leader of the Opposition” as the six-month old BGPM is not a registered party as of now.

The new board is likely to nominate the chairman-in-council and officially nominate the vice-chairperson on Wednesday.