Hamro Party
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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2022
Ravik Bhattacharya , Santanu Chowdhury, March 4, 2022: The Indian Express
The Hamro Party, launched three months ago by Ajoy Edwards, a former Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader, won the Darjeeling Municipality polls.
Unlike other hill parties, the new entrant in West Bengal politics did not fight elections on the slogan of a separate Gorkhaland. Instead, it rode on the poll plank of overall development and basic amenities, winning 18 of the 32 seats in the Darjeeling Municipality formed in 1850 by the British. Edwards, however, lost from Ward number 22.
Who is Ajoy Edwards & why did he leave GNLF?
Former GNLF leader Edwards is also the owner of Glenary’s, the oldest bakery and restaurant in Darjeeling. He was a friend and ally of GNLF president Mann Ghisingh.
After the rise of Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), Edwards was forced to leave Darjeeling and stay in Bagdogra, near Siliguri, for seven years from 2007-2014. He later returned.
Edwards, however, left the party in August last year after differences with the GNLF leadership.
His name was among the probable candidates for contesting the Darjeeling seat on GNLF ticket, a BJP ally, in 2021 assembly polls. However, the party announced Neeraj Zimba as its candidate.
As differences grew, Edwards was sent to Delhi to talk to other political parties and sections to further the demand for a separate state and other issues of the Hills.
During the same time GNLF leadership including Ghisingh went to Delhi and met with Union home minister Amit Shah, without informing Edwards. It was then that Edwards decided to float his new party. He returned to Darjeeling in August and got a warm welcome from the people.
The formation of Hamro Party
Last year, Edwards suggested five names for the party and ran a social media campaign, asking people to choose a name through online voting.
‘Hamro Party’ or ‘Our Party’ was launched on November 25, 2021.
After the launch, several people including architects, NGO workers, businessmen joined the party and hurriedly prepared for the civic polls. The party is yet to appoint a president and other office bearers.
The Hamro Party’s election campaign focused on civic, social and developmental issues. The party proposed annual free health check-ups for senior citizens, a welcome kit for tourists with discount coupons, and floated its vision of a ‘Happy City’.
Though it supports separate state demand, Hamro Party did not talk about it during the election campaign According to residents in Darjeeling, Edwards’ social work is behind his and his party’s popularity in the hill region. Edwards does not have any corruption charge against him, which also worked in favour of his party.
Edwards and his team have been engaged in social work for years. Till date, his team has constructed 140 roads in villages in and around Darjeeling district. During the pandemic, the Foundation reached out to remote places with over 100 oxygen generators.
Hamro Party’s rise
The hill politics in north Bengal has traditionally been dominated by GNLF and later by breakaway outfit GJM. These parties received success with the help of leaders such as Subash Ghisingh and Bimal Gurung who spearheaded separate statehood (Gorkhaland) movement through violent agitations. With the support of GJM, the BJP managed to gain a foothold in the hills and won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in 2009. In last year’s Assembly polls, the BJP won all five Assembly seats in the district.
Darjeeling was badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. In the last two years, lack of tourists meant no business for the residents of the city, most of whom rely on tourism to earn a living. As a result, the long standing Gorkhaland demand took a backseat while issues of development, employment and social welfare came to the forefront.
This is when people in the hills realised a sense of alienation from the bigger parties and looked for an alternative which would address local issues, which led to the Hamro Party registering a landslide win in Darjeeling.
