A comprehensive review meeting involving the district administrations of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was held at the GTA headquarters in Darjeeling on Wednesday to assess key developmental issues and chart out priorities for the hill region.
Speaking in Parliament on The Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on Thursday, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that decades after Independence, several labour laws drafted during the British era continued to govern the country, describing them as outdated and in need of reform.
Although elected members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) met the Centre-appointed interlocutor Pankaj Kumar Singh in Darjeeling, GTA Chief Anit Thapa chose to remain absent.
The project Is being implemented in four phases. The first phase, connecting Khunia More to Kumani More over a stretch of 11.86 km, has already been completed. The second phase, linking Kumani More to Gairibas across 9 km, was inaugurated on 7 December 2025 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, accompanied by Siliguri MLA Dr Shankar Ghosh, called on Union minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp) leader from Kalimpong Anil Lopchan also said they condemned the statement made by Mr Lepcha.
While the clash left four persons of both the sides injured, both the factions-one led by Bimal Gurung and the other by Binoy Tamang-pointed fingers at each other.
"There seems to be a section of politicians who are deliberately misinterpreting the BJP commitment to promote mother tongues--Bengali, Nepali, Rajbongshi, Kurmali, Santhali and other languages, as stated in our manifesto, as being BJP attempt at imposing Bengali," Mr Bista said.
Shankar Ghosh submitted his resignation letter to the district party secretary, Jibesh Sarkar, yesterday. A first time councillor, Ghosh had been elected from Ward 24 in 2015. He was the member of the mayor-in council of health at the SMC until the tenure of the Left-run elected board ended in May 2020.
Amar Singh Rai of the Tamang camp had contested on a TMC ticket during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while Mr Tamang himself had contested the Darjeeling Assembly by-elections that very year, supported by the TMC.
