Anit Thapa-led Gorkhaland Territorial Administration has decided to hold a three-day rural festival on his arch-rival Bimal Gurung’s turf at Jamuni in Darjeeling, which many believe is an attempt by the GTA chief executive to gradually increase his influence in that area ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Jamuni falls under the Vah-Tukvar GTA constituency from where Gurung had won in 2012. Gurung’s house is situated at Patlabas in the Vah-Tukvar area, about 20km from Darjeeling town.

An Independent backed by Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha won the GTA poll from Vah-Tukvar in 2022. During last year’s panchayat elections, several candidates belonging to the Morcha won from the area.

But the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) led by Thapa won the maximum number of seats in both the elections on the whole.

The GTA’s three-day Jamuni rural festival will begin on January 26.

The organising panel of the event is headed by Rajen Tamang, the president of the BGPM’s Darjeeling subdivisional youth committee. The organising panel includes BGPM central committee members like Amrit Yozone. Nine elected GTA Sabha members have been mobilised for the event.

The organising committee said the goal of the festival was to provide services to the rural population though there would be several cultural programmes.

“Our region is an agricultural belt. The event is being organised to ensure that various rural services are delivered on the doorstep,” said Bhupendra Chhetri, a GTA Sabha member representing Bijanbari.

When Gurung headed the GTA from 2012 to 2016, the rural festival at Jamuni was an annual affair. However, the new dispensation that headed the GTA since 2017 has not focused much on the area, leading to an allegation of “political victimisation” from some quarters.

Gurung had tried to develop Jamuni as a tourist point and pumped in the GTA funds of more than Rs 50 crore to develop the area during his tenure as the chief executive of the hill body.

The area has a 23-bed hotel, along with four riverside cottages with 12 rooms in total. The place also boasts a lake, which earlier had boating facilities, and a statue of Lord Shiva. Plans were afoot to set up a “Moghul garden” in the area.

“However, Jamuni is in a state of total neglect now. Most of the projects initiated by Gurung are half complete,” said a resident.

Against this background, many believe Thapa’s decision to hold the rural fest at Jamuni is an attempt to reach out to the people of Tukvar and its surrounding area. “It seems Thapa wants to bring Bimal Gurung’s area under his control and the decision to hold the rural festival at Jamuni seems to be a subtle attempt,” said an observer.