Counting underway for GTA polls in Darjeeling; TMC bags maiden seat

The Trinamool Congress, Hamro Party and BGPM managed to win one seat each, as the counting of votes polled during the elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in Darjeeling hills began on Wednesday morning.

This is for the first time that the TMC has managed to win a seat in the GTA, alongside the newly floated Hamro Party and the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha.

Two independents have also emerged victorious in the GTA polls, officials said.

"The counting of votes is still underway. The TMC has won one seat and is leading in another. The Hamro Party has won one and is leading in four seats. The BGPM is leading in six seats. Independents are ahead in three seats," an official said.

Polls to the GTA, the semi-autonomous council that governs the Darjeeling hills, were held on Sunday, after a decade marked by a series of changes in the region's political dynamics.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) swept the first and only GTA polls in 2012, winning all the seats. Elections could not be held in 2017 due to a violent statehood agitation, with a state-appointed administrative body taking over the reins of the council.

The GJM, BJP and GNLF have boycotted the GTA polls this time.

The counting of votes for Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad in north Bengal also began this morning.

In Siliguri, counting started in nine seats of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (sub-divisional council), 22 panchayats, and four panchayat samitis at 8 am.

"The TMC is leading in Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad as per early trends," the official said.

By-elections were also held in six wards of six municipalities of the state. The TMC won four, whereas the Congress and the CPI(M) won one each.

The Congress retained ward number 2 of Jhalda Municipality in Purulia, winning it by a margin of 778 votes, whereas the Trinamool Congress won in ward number 8 of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, officials said.

By-polls were conducted in ward number 2 of Jhalda Municipality in Purulia, where sitting Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot dead in March, and ward number 8 of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, where TMC councillor Anupam Dutta was gunned down.CPI(M) 's Ashok Gangopadhyay won by a margin of 130 votes from ward number 16 of Chandannagar Municipality.