Candle out, BGPM now wants ‘torchlight’ for poll battle
Times of India | 2 April 2026
Darjeeling: The Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) on Wednesday picked "torchlight" as its preferred electoral symbol for the upcoming assembly polls. The BGPM, an ally of Trinamool Congress, had suffered a setback on Tuesday after its preferred symbol, ‘candle', was missing from the Election Commission's official list. Other than "torchlight", which is the party's first preference, BGPM has also opted for "binoculars" and "table" as its alternate symbols. The final symbol will be known by April 7.
On Wednesday, BGPM's Kurseong candidate Amar Lama and Kalimpong MLA Ruden Sada Lepcha filed their nomination papers. The party's Darjeeling candidate, Bijoy Kumar Rai, will submit his papers on Thursday. "We are confident of winning all three Hill seats. Although we are a registered party, our symbol was not in the EC's list. We had to move forward and choose another," Thapa said.
Lepcha asserted the change would not impact the outcome. "The symbol does not matter, ideology does. We have ensured peace and development in the Hills. We are confident of victory," he said.