Gorkhaland Territorial Administration election will be held on 26 June 2022 to elect all 45 members of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

state, India.

Background

The previous election took place in 2012 which was won by GJM. In 2017, all GJM councillors resigned from their posts stating that GTA failed to fulfill their expectations and aspirations of the people. Sooner Binay Tamang was appointed by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

as acting chairman of the body. Later Anit Thapa was appointed as its acting chairman. Following the municipal election all over the state, West Bengal State Election Commission announced the date of poll on 27 May 2022. GJM leader and previous chairman of GTA,

Bimal Gurung Bimal Gurung is an Indian politician and one of the founders and the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), a political party demanding the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland within India. He is the 1st chief executive member ...

started a hunger strike in demand for the postponement of the election, just after the poll date was announced. BJP also supported Gurung and stated that GTA is not a permanent solution of the Gorkha issues.

Schedule

The election schedule was declared by West Bengal State Election Commission on 27 May 2022.

Parties and alliances

The party which won the last election,

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is a registered unrecognized political party, that campaigns for the creation of a separate state Gorkhaland within India, out of districts in the north of West Bengal. The party was launched on 7 October 2007. T ...

officially didn't fielded any candidates, however its members contested from all 45 seats as independent candidates. On the other hand,

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

, the ruling party in the state confirmed that they will contest from only 10 seats. BGPM broke its alliance with TMC and decided to contest from 36 seats on their own. Newly formed Hamro Party also fielded candidates in all seats.

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the six national parties of India. ...

fielded 12 candidates and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

fielded 5 candidates in the polls. A total of 277 candidates, including 169 independents, are contesting the GTA election. BJP and its allies -

Gorkha National Liberation Front Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India. It was formed in 1980 by Subhash Ghisingh with the objective of demanding a Gorkhaland state within India. Early history Part of t ...

, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists and All India Gorkha League decided not to contest the GTA election.

Winning candidates

Results

" * " denotes parties that are contesting the election as independent candidates (not with any party symbols)

Aftermath

After the election result was out, West Bengal chief minister

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

said that

had alliance with BGPM. BGPM president Anit Thapa went to meet Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata after a few days. All 45 elected member took oath on 13 July. BGPM had the majority on their own as they had won 27 seats. BGPM along with its ally TMC, and other three independent members, formed the board. Anit Thapa became the chief executive of GTA while Rajesh Chauhan became its chairman. Their oath taking ceremony took place on 14 July in the presence of Governor

Jagdeep Dhankhar Jagdeep Dhankhar (; born 18 May 1951) is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the vice president of India since 2022. He previously served as the List of governors of West Bengal, Governor of West Bengal from 2019 to 2022. He also serve ...

.{{Cite web , last=সংবাদদাতা , first=নিজস্ব , title=GTA: জিটিএ চেয়ারম্যান হচ্ছেন অঞ্জুল, চিফ এগজিকিউটিভ অনীত, শপথ গ্রহণ বৃহস্পতিবার , url=https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/north-bengal/gta-chairman-will-be-anjul-chauhan-chief-executive-anit-thapa-swearing-on-thursday-dgtld/cid/1356220 , access-date=2022-07-14 , website=www.anandabazar.com , language=bn

References

Politics of Gorkhaland 2022 elections in India Elections in West Bengal