The BJP has shifted loyalties in Bengal’s hills with the party dropping MLA and Gorkha National Liberation Front’s Neeraj Zimba and nominating Noman Rai from the politically crucial Darjeeling constituency.Darjeeling is currently represented by Zimba, who serves as the secretary general and legal adviser of the GNLF and had successfully contested the 2021 Assembly elections on the BJP ticket.This time, the BJP leadership has ignored GNLF candidates for all three hill seats — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.Rai, a seasoned political figure in his own right, is the president of the youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and a former councillor of Darjeeling municipality.Importantly, the GJM is the rival of the GNLF in the hills, and advocates a separate Gorkhaland and is seen to be gathering popular appeal.From Kalimpong, the BJP has nominated Olympian and former Indian hockey captain Bharat Chetri. The nomination of three new faces by the BJP signals a shift in party strategy in the crucial hill areas, where it had been in alliance with the GNLF for nearly a decade.Interestingly, the GNLF had backed BJP candidate Raju Bista in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from Darjeeling and Bista had defeated the GJM’s nominee.The equations have now changed with the Election Commission delisting the GNLF as a ‘Registered Unrecognised Political Party’ on September 19, 2025, as the party had not contested the last six elections on its own.The delisting came on the back of the GNLF failing to meet regulatory requirements, including prolonged absence from elections and issues of organisational compliance.The development effectively ended the BJP’s alliance with the party, compelling it to explore new political alignments and strengthen its independent base in the hills.In the 2021 Bengal polls, Darjeeling hills had delivered a mixed verdict for the BJP. While the party had retained Darjeeling and Kurseong, it lost Kalimpong to Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), which is now aligned with the All-India Trinamool Congress (TMC).Kurseong is currently held by Bishnu Prasad Sharma, who was elected on a BJP ticket in 2021, but recently defected to the TMC, adding another layer of complexity to the electoral contest.Meanwhile, Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha based in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts has announced candidates for all three constituencies: sitting MLA Ruden Sada Lepcha will seek re-election from Kalimpong, Bijay Kumar Rai has been nominated from Darjeeling, and Amar Lama from Kurseong.The elections for these seats are scheduled to be held in the first phase on April 23.