Following the recent Supreme Court verdict that went against fugitive GJMM leader Bimal Gurung, the trend of his supporters switching allegiance to the Binoy Tamang-Anit Thapa camp of the Morcha has see a good rise.

The apex court last Friday dismissed a plea made by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leader to grant him protection from arrest in the several cases of violence filed against him during last year’s Gorkhaland agitation in the Hills.

Several pro-Gurung leaders and activists from different places in the Hills, who had been until now underground, have started commenting against Mr Gurung and joining Mr Tamang and Mr Thapa.

Only yesterday, several Morcha activists from Beltar and Dilaram area under the Kurseong sub-division vowed support to the two Hill leaders, who are also the chairman and vice-chairman of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Board of Administrators.

Among the activists joining the camp are three senior leaders, who are former GTA Sabha members, Mahendra Pradhan, Ratan Thapa and Yogendra Rai. Mr Rai, considered a Gurung loyal, joined the Tamang camp the very next day of the court verdict.

In the foothills like Dudhia under the Kurseong subdivision, Morcha leader Santosh Lama resurfaced for the first time after the agitation and, through the Press, spoke against Mr Gurung’s leadership and threw his weight behind Mr Tamang and Mr Thapa.

Saran Dewan from Singell Tea Estate, who is known as a ‘hardcore’ supporter of Mr Gurung, has also pointed fingers at Mr Gurung’s leadership.

“Earlier, I had thought that Mr Gurung would file a plea in the court for his followers who are in hiding and are now fleeing from one place to another, but he filed a plea only for himself,” Mr Dewan said.

“People have now started to understand that Mr Gurung had taken the wrong path,” the GTA vice-chairman, Mr Thapa, said.

“The hill people have also come to understand the real image of the BJP, as in the 10 long years, they did nothing for the Hill people,” he added.

Meanwhile, as the trend continues, several Morcha leaders in the Mongpoo area, who had been in hiding, have sworn allegiance to Mr Tamang and Mr Thapa.

“He (Gurung) is such a personality who talks about jungles, while living in a luxurious building,” one of the leaders said.

According to him the Hill people faced a myriad of problems during the 105 days of the shutdown last year due to the “wrong leadership” of Mr Gurung.

Anit Thapa, meanwhile, said that as soon as the news of the Supreme Court verdict spread like wildfire in the Hills, he started receiving calls from underground party activists and leaders.

“Activists and leaders, who were underground and had been supporting Gurung and his camp have now started supporting us,” he said.

Gurung arrest ‘rumour’

Meanwhile, fugitive leader Mr Gurung sent a video clip from an undisclosed location, which tried to lay to rest “rumours” of his arrest from Ilam district in Nepal near Darjeeling.

According to Mr Gurung, he is “safe and sound” and is presently at “my own place, my own region.” I may be mentioned here that talk of him being arrested went viral on social media since last night.

In the video, Mr Gurung further appealed to the people to not get swayed by such rumours.

Like in the earlier video and audio clips, he iterated that he would continue his work for Gorkhaland and soon get back among the masses.