Dwaipayan/Deep Bimal Gurung

Darjeeling: There is working-day chaos on Wednesday afternoon on the 100m stretch separating Police Outpost and North Point School at Singmari — polling officers are waiting in their cars along with

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personnel as they leave for poll duty, and tourists who got dropped at the nearby Darjeeling Zoo and ropeway are busy searching for cabs at the taxi stand.

It is almost difficult to believe — except for the the odd burnt police vehicle parked on one side of Singmari crossing — that it is this stretch of road that had become the epicentre of violence that preceded the 104-day strike between July and September 2017.

The GJM’s original headquarters — a four-storey house at Singamari crossing, from where Bimal Gurung exerted his influence over the Hills — now houses Darjeeling police and security personnel. Even the odd Trinamool flag has made a comeback, albeit with the GJM (Tamang faction).

Another 3km downhill, where shared Jeeps to Singla and Bijanbari negotiate sharp bends, it is difficult to believe that vehicles got torched and police were attacked as the Gorkhaland agitation exploded in between this stretch.

Almost everyone here calls Gurung a local boy, but refuses to talk politics.

Here, at Patlybas (also spelled Patlebas), stands the former home of Gurung. The community centre where voting will take place is close by too. Gurung’s last attempt to return failed only a day ago with his hearing deferred by the high court. His audio messages do reach people but it is the man, more than his politics, that they hope to see one day. “Before everything else, he is a local boy,” said Mai Gurung, a resident.

A lone poster, near the steep climb that leads to his house, in support of Raju Singh Bisht of BJP is the only reminder of Lok Sabha polls here. Residents say they will flock to Patlybas Community Centre on Thursday but want to see Gurung back.

Not all agree, however. At Singamari is the house of Samir Gurung, one of the 13 people who lost their lives during the 2017 agitation. His mother Mani Subba, a nurse, says “I have lost my son. But none of the political parties looked after us”.

Another resident Sourav Gurung says: “Singamari became synonymous with security forces. But you also need to give peace and development a chance in this election.”


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