West Bengal: Fledgling Gorkha party wins GTA polls in Darjeeling, Trinamool CongressMamata Banerjee's TMC bags five seats

GTA poll results 2022: This is for the first time that the Trinamool Congress has won seats in the GTA, a semi-autonomous council that governs the Darjeeling hills.

File photos

New Delhi: The nine-month-old Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) Wednesday (June 29, 2022) emerged as the largest single party in elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in the Darjeeling hills, winning 27 out of 45 seats. The BGPM, led by former GTA chairman Anit Thapa, is a breakaway faction of the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) which had boycotted the GTA polls held after a decade in the hills. Another newly floated outfit, Hamro Party, and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress bagged eight and five seats respectively, while five independent candidates emerged victorious in the GTA polls.

This is for the first time that the TMC won seats in the GTA, a semi-autonomous council that governs the Darjeeling hills.

Polls to the GTA were held on Sunday, after a decade marked by a series of changes in the region's political dynamics. The GJM swept the first GTA polls in 2012, winning all the seats. Elections could not be held in 2017 due to a violent statehood agitation, with a state-appointed administrative body taking over the reins of the council.

The GJM, BJP and the GNLF boycotted the polls held on Sunday.

West Bengal civic bypoll results 2022

Votes in by-elections held in six wards of six municipalities of West Bengal were also counted during the day, in which, the TMC won four, whereas the Congress and the CPI(M) bagged one each.

The Congress retained ward number 2 of Jhalda Municipality in Purulia district, winning it by a margin of 778 votes, whereas the Trinamool Congress won ward number 8 of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district.

By-polls were conducted in ward number 2 of Jhalda Municipality where sitting Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot dead in March, and ward number 8 of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, where TMC councillor Anupam Dutta was gunned down also in that month.

Mithun Kandu, the nephew of Tapan, was a Congress candidate in Jhalda, whereas Anupam's wife, Meenakshi, was the TMC candidate from Panihati.

The CPI(M) wrested ward number 16 of Chandannagar Municipality after over three decades as its candidate Ashok Gangopadhyay won by a margin of 130 votes.

29 June 2022

19:08 IST

Siliguri Sub Division Election: The results for 462 seats of 22 gram panchayats under Siliguri sub-division council were declared on Wednesday. The Trinamool has won 320 seats. The BJP won 86 gram panchayat seats. The Congress won 21 gram panchayat seats. The CPM won 15 gram panchayat seats.  Independent candidates have won 20 gram panchayat seats.

18:40 IST

For the last five years, there was a Left Front board in the Siliguri subdivisional council. This time it's just the TMC.

Siliguri Results: Left scores ZERO IN Gram Panchayat

Results of the Gram or Panchayat Samiti

Kharibari (12 Seats)

Trinamool holds 9, 
BJP 3
Left 0

Matigara (15 Seats)

Trinamool holds 12 
BJP 3
Left 0

Naxalbari (18 Seats)

Trinamool 17
BJP 1
Left 0

Phansidewa (21 Seats)

Trinamool 10
 BJP 2
Counting on...