Nominees out, GTA to face administrative disruption after state order in Darjeeling
Telegraph | 13 May 2026
The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is staring at an administrative disruption after the state government ordered the termination of nominated members and officials whose services had been extended, with certain departments already initiating compliance.
Sources said the order was implemented in the finance department of the GTA on Tuesday.
“The original order of termination was issued by the home and hill affairs department yesterday. Every department needs to come up with a matching order, and the same was received by the GTA’s finance department today (on Tuesday),” a source told The Telegraph.
The GTA is helmed by the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) with its president Anit Thapa serving as the chief executive of the hill body. BGPM is an ally of the Trinamool Congress.
Thapa, however, did write a letter congratulating the new Bengal chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari.
Sources in the GTA have said that other departments have not yet received the matching order of the home and hill affairs department.
Many believe that the GTA’s functioning could be affected dramatically. “There are many posts of advisers that have been nominated. While the post of retired government officials can be replaced, the absence of advisers, some of whom were active in various departments, could affect the overall working of the GTA,” said an observer.
Most of the advisers are political appointees.
Darjeeling BJP MLA Noman Rai, who is also the youth president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, stressed the need to remove all nominated persons from the GTA.
“We would request officials in the GTA to ensure that all nominated people are removed. We will also meet the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong on Monday to raise these issues,” said Rai.
Apart from the nominated people, the BJP government had also removed the chairpersons of development boards.
In Darjeeling, the Trinammol Congress government had formed 16 development boards mainly to counter the Bimal Gurung-controlled GTA.