Hills divided, plains wary: Centre’s Gorkhaland talks off to a tricky start

The first round of consultations under the Centre’s renewed push for a permanent political solution to the Darjeeling hills in West Bengal has exposed the challenges ahead.

Finding a solution to the four-decade-old Gorkhaland issue has become more complicated as the demand for a Kamtapur state has resurfaced in response to proposals to include parts of the Terai and Dooars regions in a new administrative arrangement for the Gorkhas, sources familiar with the developments said.

Differences among hill parties over statehood and an empowered autonomous body have further complicated the negotiations, they said.

High-level panel consults hill parties

Competing demands came to the fore as a high-level committee led by Pankaj Kumar Singh, the Centre’s interlocutor on the Gorkhaland issue, began consultations with hill parties and other stakeholders in Darjeeling recently.

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The committee was formed after a tripartite meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a hotel in Sukna, near Siliguri, West Bengal, on August 22 this year.

“It will be a tightrope walk for the committee to reconcile competing demands within a constitutional framework acceptable to all stakeholders, including West Bengal’s first BJP government,” observed Siliguri-based political commentator Probir Pramanik, who has covered the region for about four decades.

What is Bengal BJP’s official stand?

The West Bengal BJP’s official stand is against bifurcation, amid concerns that the demand for dividing the state could have adverse political implications among Bengalis, particularly in southern Bengal.

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The BJP, however, has faced criticism for not distancing itself firmly from separate-state demands raised by some of its leaders in the Gorkhaland and Kamtapur regions, prompting the Opposition to allege that the party tacitly supports Bengal's division.

Finding a permanent political solution to the Gorkhaland issue was a key electoral promise the BJP made during the 2026 Assembly elections.

Singh, accompanied by Home Ministry joint secretary Arvind Khare and West Bengal home and hill affairs secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, began meeting political parties in Darjeeling this month.

The committee is tasked with preparing a “comprehensive framework” for a political settlement covering the hills, Terai and Dooars.

GAC, IGJF push for separate state demand

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), led by Bimal Gurung, pressed for an empowered constitutional body that would include 396 mouzas in the Terai and Dooars, sources said.

The Gorkhaland Apex Committee (GAC) and the Indian Gorkha Janashakti Front (IGJF), by contrast, reiterated that a separate state was the only lasting solution.

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said the proposed body should have legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers. The party also demanded Scheduled Tribe status for 11 Gorkha communities and constitutional safeguards for their long-term political and social security.

Citing the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam as a precedent, Giri argued that the proposed arrangement should cover 396 mouzas in the Terai and Dooars across Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, in addition to areas already under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

KPP’s objection

The GJM also warned that it could withdraw from the negotiations if its demands were not met.

The demand to include parts of the Terai and Dooars in the proposed arrangement has reportedly not gone down well with communities in the plains.

The Kamtapur People’s Party (KPP) objected to the proposal and renewed its demand for a separate Kamtapur state covering North Bengal and parts of Assam, sources said.

The competing territorial claims have long complicated efforts to settle the region’s political future.

KPP central committee president Nikhil Roy warned that consultations that excluded sections of the plain population could undermine the settlement effort and revive tensions in North Bengal.

He called on the Centre to hear not only established hill parties but also organisations representing communities in the plains before deciding the geographical scope of any proposed arrangement.

The demand to include parts of the Terai and Dooars in the Gorkhaland territory is not new.

Previous recommendation and GJM’s rejection

The GJM had sought the inclusion of 396 mouzas from the two regions during the negotiations that led to the creation of the GTA in 2011.

However, a committee headed by retired Justice Shyamal Sen, constituted in July 2011, recommended including only five of the 396 mouzas in the GTA in 2012. The GJM rejected the recommendation.

The renewed territorial demand is only one obstacle. Differences among Gorkha parties over whether to pursue statehood or an empowered autonomous arrangement present another challenge to the Centre’s search for a settlement.

The GAC reiterated that a separate state was the only lasting solution to the problems of the hills, Terai and Dooars.

A delegation led by academic Mahendra P. Lama met Singh on October 9. Lama said the delegation had discussed the history of the movement, previous negotiations, and why earlier arrangements had failed to fulfil hill aspirations.

The delegation included representatives of 17 political parties. The committee also brings together professionals and civil society figures, giving its statehood campaign a platform beyond political parties.

BGPM’s message to BJP and its allies

Ajoy Edwards of the Indian Gorkha Janashakti Front argued that any new state, whatever its name, should include Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik, as well as the Terai and Dooars.

The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa, also met the committee separately.

Thapa said he had resigned from the GTA because he believed the body was being seen as an obstacle to the statehood demand.

He said the BJP and its allies had a responsibility to fulfil the aspirations of people who had supported them in the expectation of Gorkhaland.