The move was initiated by Padam Lama, president of the GJM unit in the Dooars, sources said. He was followed by eight others including senior Dooars leader Ganesh Alley and assistant secretary of the Dooars committee Prashant Thulung.
Trinamool general secretary Mukul Roy said, “Morcha leaders of the Dooars today joined the TMC. They want development in the region. We promised them that the TMC government will start implementing several development projects in the area. We will also give them important positions in the party in the Dooars. We hope the TMC will be strengthened in the area with the efforts of these leaders.”
Lama blamed the GJM for cheating the people of the Dooars. “The GJM leaders promised they would bring development in the area and include Dooars in the GTA if we supported them. We agreed and worked for them. But in the end we saw they were only doing politics in the area. The GJM leaders cheated us and satisfied their vested interest by using us. So today we have joined TMC. We want the ruling party to bring development,” he said.
In September 2012, senior leaders of the GJM from the Dooars region resigned and dissolved their core committee because of alleged indifference towards the region by GJM chief Bimal Gurung after the formation of the Gorkha Territorial Administration. Lama and Thulung claimed that the Dooars was forgotten by Gurung, who is also the GTA chief executive.
The GJM, however, appeared unruffled by their shift in allegiance. Party general secretary Roshan Giri said, “The leaders who shifted their allegiance were expelled from the party earlier. They wanted political mileage by shifting from GJM to TMC. It will not affect our organisation in the Dooars region.”
That resentment was brewing among the Morcha’s office-bearers in the plains had been hinted at by Adivasi leader John Barla during his recent visit to Darjeeling. Barla had said at a programme that the Morcha leadership should remain in touch with cadres in the plains. Disenchantment among GJM leaders of the plains could translate into a gain for the Trinamool. Sources said several Morcha cadres had recently joined the TMC.