Five days after the Darjeeling hills voted, leaders of three rival groups, the Bimal Gurung and Binay Tamang factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, and the BJP were back on the streets this time to distribute masks and sanitise neighbourhoods.
Leaders and workers of the Tamang camp went around Darjeeling town distributing “around 10,000” masks to those not wearing them.
At the same time, Gurung supporters were seen sanitising the town and distributing “around 8,000” masks.
In Kalimpong, the BJP’s youth wing was also seen distributing masks.
Vikram Rai from the Tamang camp said that they had formed a group called Hamro Pahad Covid Warriors whose members were also actively involved in a “surveillance committee” formed by the GTA during the first wave of the pandemic last week.