ANATOMY OF AMBITION – Power-grab attempts behind altruism?

Anatomy of Ambition by Upendra examines how in trying to cling on-to power in a body nobody wants – GTA, Ajoy Edwards is coming across as power-hungry and doing himself a great dis-service.

In May of 2022, when the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) elections were declared, people in Darjeeling region saw it as West Bengal government’s attempt at legitimizing the illegitimate regime they had foisted upon the people. There was a near unanimous agreement that any such election should be boycotted.

The Gorkhaland andolan of 2017, and how it was subverted using “traitors” from among our own people, had left a lot of ill-will against the Trinamool Congress led West Bengal government.

Former Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders like Binoy Tamang, Anit Thapa, Sanchabir Subba along with the former Darjeeling MLA Amar Rai, Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma and a few others took control of GJM in the absence of Bimal Gurung. But they were regard as GJM 2 by the people in general.

From 2017 to 2022, the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal ran the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration using proxies in the form of “Board of Administrators (BoA)”. Binoy Tamang was appointed as the BoA Chairman, with Anit Thapa as the BoA Deputy Chairman. Amar Rai, Sanchabir Subba, Anu Pradhan and J Khatoon were handed responsibilities of various departments on 2nd of Nov, 2017.

The defeat of TMC-GJM2 “Bhumiputra” candidate Amar Rai in the 2019 general elections,brought to fore the rifts in the GJM-2 camp. Further, the defeat of Binoy Tamang in 2019 MLA bye-elections and his unceremonious removal as the head of GJM-2 and GTA Board of Administrators Chairman in April of 2019 helped Anit Thapa consolidate his control over GJM-2.

With Anit finally in complete control, he played smart and gave up on the GJM2 label. He then started a new political outfit the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) or as they were popularly referred to as “Tantrik-Morcha” on 9th of Sept, 2021.

Once Anit was on a firm footing, TMC government in West Bengal started preparing grounds for conducting GTA elections.

That is when Ajoy Edwards announced the launch of his new political party, all the way from Ladakh. He made good on his words and launched “Hamro Party” on 25th of Nov, 2021.

By December 2024 Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma and Binoy Tamang were both shown the door by Anit, and they ended up joining TMC on 24th of Dec, 2021.

There was a near unanimous agreement among all all political parties with some history in Darjeeling, that the GTA elections should be boycotted. Other than the newly formed Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), which for all intent and purpose was viewed as TMC Team-B. Further legitimacy to the farcical GTA election was given by Edward’s Hamro Party, which contested the elections.

In the absence of any credible opposition, as expected BGPM won majority and Hamro Party also won some seats.

From a purely political perspective, had Hamro Party not contested the 2022 GTA elections, it would have automatically de-legitimized the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, and perhaps compelled the TMC government to negotiate actual autonomy with the hill people. With Edwards and his merry men contesting the elections, they provided credibility to the GTA elections, that was majorly rigged by Kolkata.

Now in 2026, Anit Thapa has resigned as GTA Chairman, along with some of his party Sabhasads. What is interesting to note is that neither Edwards or any of Hamro Party (which incidentally does not exist today) sabhasads have bothered to resign from the GTA Sabha. There is a very good chance that Edwards may end up becoming the GTA Chairman, thus fulfilling his long-held ambition of running the GTA (else why bother contesting an election everyone else had boycotted?).

Despite IGJF’s holier-than-though claims of them wanting to retain GTA Sabha to check on GTA corruption, the fact of the matter is that increased GTA budget allows whoever controls GTA to be in control of the political future of Darjeeling region.

All claims to contrary, there are strong indications that Edwards hopes it’s him in control of the GTA purse, and possibly the future of Darjeeling. Others may not see it, but a pattern definitely emerges.

We all remember the infamous episode, when the GNLF sent an e-mail to Mamata Banerjee calling for talks at the height of 2017 Gorkhaland Andolan. Recently a GNLF leader Sandeep Limbu highlighted that the email was in all likelihood sent from an address associated with Edward’s.

Glenary’s was the first major business establishment to defy 2017 Andolan strike and open their doors for business, at a time when entire Darjeeling was shut down, united in demanding Gorkhaland.

I have always admired Ajoy Da, and personally I respect him deeply. What I fear is that in trying to cling on-to power in a body nobody wants – GTA, he is coming across as power-hungry, and doing himself a great dis-service. If I was him, I would have been the first to call for resignation from GTA, and put pressure on BJP Government, both in the state and the center to form Gorkhaland state or UT.

Ambition, masked in the form of altruism is one of the greatest evils. Public toilets have been sold in Darjeeling by individuals portraying the “humble to earth” persona. Edwards’ ambition could be harmful for the greater Gorkha cause.

All should ponder. Most of all he.