Kolkata | Gorkha leader Binay Tamang, who was earlier with the Trinamool Congress, joined the Congress at Kalimpong on Sunday, a party leader said.

Tamang, a former chairman of the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration that governs the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal, accepted the flag of the grand old party from state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the hill town.

Tamang was a close aide of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung before falling out with him and joining the ruling party in the state.

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In 2019, Tamang had stepped down as chairman of GTA and had unsuccessfully contested an assembly by-election as an independent candidate with the support of the TMC. Later, in 2021, he joined the TMC but left the party within a year.

Speculations are rife that Tamang might be made the Congress candidate for Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in the next general elections.