The hills of Darjeeling have come alive as a three-cornered contest has begun among rival Gorkha parties for domination in the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly election.Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong are the three seats in the hills. Three seats in the plains — Siliguri, Phansidewa and Matigara-Naxalbari — also fall in Darjeeling district and are part of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. Darjeeling goes to the polls on April 23.In the 2021 Assembly election, the BJP-supported candidates had won all three seats in the hills and the three seats of the Darjeeling plains.Since 2014, BJP candidates have consecutively won the Darjeeling seat in the parliamentary elections, indicating its total domination of the district.Gorkha parties have traditionally had little faith in the leadership of Kolkata and relied on the ruling party in Delhi in the hope of getting support for their demand for a separate Gorkha state.Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is virtually non-existent in the hills and has relied on support of a Gorkha party for some visibility here. It has lost all seats in the plains to the BJP.To get a foothold in the hills, Mamata has aligned with different Gorkha leaders since she came to power in 2011. Currently, she supports Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM).The parties in the fray in Darjeeling hills are Anit Thapa’s BGPM; the BJP, whose candidates are being supported by Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM); the GNLF; and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist.Another party in the contest is Ajoy Edwards’ India Gorkha Janshakti Front. Though he is the president of the party, he is better known as the owner of Darjeeling’s famous restaurant — Glenary’s.Thapa takes credit for developmental work in the hill as the chief executive of the GTA for which he has been receiving substantial financial support from Mamata. He has taken it as a challenge to push back the BJP’s growing influence in the hills.Edwards, a rich businessman with funds to spare, has influence among sections of urban voters and in recent years has established himself as a serious political player in Darjeeling.Gurung, a one-time ally of Mamata and leader of the GJM, is considered to be among the most influential leaders. By aligning with the BJP, he has further strengthened and consolidated his position in the hills and the adjoining areas.The GNLF, once the most dominant party in the hills that gained prominence for spearheading the Gorkhaland movement for a separate Gorkha state in the 1980s under Subash Ghising’s leadership, has lost much of its earlier political clout since his death in 2015.His son Mann Ghising, who is president of the party, continues with his demand for a permanent political solution to the Gorkhaland issue. But his close association with the BJP and growing business interests have blunted the GNLF’s earlier militancy to achieve ‘separation’ from Bengal.It is the BJP that has emerged as the most influential political force in the hills over the years. Banking on the RSS’ hard work in successfully creating and expanding its network among different groups and sub-groups in the hills and the adjoining areas, the party has consolidated its position over the TMC and other political rivals.Home Minister Amit Shah’s promise for a permanent political solution to the Gorkhaland issue may be a political carrot that is being dangled before the Gorkha parties to consolidate the BJP’s position. But with their strong anti-Bengal sentiment, the Gorkhas look to the BJP as the best option.