Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) (Nepali

Nepali language

Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...

: अखिल भारतीय गोर्खा लीग) (also called All India Gorkha League (AIGL/IGL)) is a political party working amongst the Nepali

Nepali language

Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...

-speaking population in Darjeeling District

Darjeeling district

Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its beautiful hill stations and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters...

, West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The party was founded in 1943 by Damber Singh Gurung. The current president is Bharati Tamang, widow of late Madan Tamang

Madan Tamang

Madan Tamang was an Indian politician of Nepali descent, a Gorkha leader, and the president of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League , a moderate faction of the Gorkhaland movement...

, a former president of ABGL. Laxman Pradhan is the General Secretary of the party.

Ahead of the 1999 DGHC elections, ABGL was part of the United Front, an alliance consisting of Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists

Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists

Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists is a political party based in the Darjeeling District of the Indian state of West Bengal. CPRM was formed in 1996 by Communist Party of India dissidents like former State Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Tamang Dawa Lama, Lok Sabha MP R.B...

, ABGL, Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

, Bharatiya Gorkha Janashakti

Bharatiya Gorkha Janashakti

Bharatiya Gorkha Janashakti is a political party in the Darjeeling District of the Indian state of West Bengal. BGJS was launched in 1998, anticipating the 1999 Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council elections...

, Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

, All India Trinamool Congress

All India Trinamool Congress

The All India Trinamool Congress is a state political party in West Bengal. Founded in 1 January 1998, the party is led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool Congress is currently the second largest member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition...

, Bharatiya Nepali Bir Gorkha and Sikkim Rashtriya Mukti Morcha.

ABGL was later a part of the People's Democratic Front (PDF), a six-party alliance led by the CPRM and including Indian National Congress (Hills), Gorkha National Liberation Front (C.K. Pradhan)

Gorkha National Liberation Front (C.K. Pradhan)

Gorkha National Liberation Front or GNLF is a splinter group of Gorkha National Liberation Front in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. GNLF was formed in 2002 after the murder of GNLF leader C.K. Pradhan. Pradhan's widow Sheila Pradhan claimed that he was killed by GNLF since he was about...

, ABGL, Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

 and Gorkha Democratic Front (a party that was formed by Madan Tamang before his return to ABGL). PDF stood for Gorkha autonomy but was opposed to the Gorkha National Liberation Front

Gorkha National Liberation Front

Gorkha National Liberation Front is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India...

 (GNLF) led by Subhash Ghisingh

Subhash Ghisingh

Subhash Ghisingh is the leader of Gorkhaland National Liberation Front which he founded in 1980. He was the chairman of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in West Bengal, India from 1988 to 2008...

.

ABGL is currently part of the Democratic Front, an alliance of the CPRM, BJP and other parties. ABGL opposes the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is a registered political party which campaigns for the creation of a separate state within India, out of districts in the north of West Bengal...

 (GJM) and stands for peaceful democracy in the Darjeeling hills. It is opposed to the setting up of an Interim Authority in Darjeeling in place of a full-fledged state of Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland is the name of the proposed state in India demanded by the Nepali/Gorkhali-speaking Nepali/Gorkha ethnic group in Darjeeling and the Dooars in north West Bengal....

.

On 21 May, 2010, ABGL president, Madan Tamang

Madan Tamang

Madan Tamang was an Indian politician of Nepali descent, a Gorkha leader, and the president of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League , a moderate faction of the Gorkhaland movement...

 was stabbed to death allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters in Darjeeling, which lead to a spontaneous shutdown in the three Darjeeling hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong

Kurseong

Kurseong is a hill station situated in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India.Located at an altitude of 1458 metres , Kurseong is just 30 km from Darjeeling...

. Subsequently his wife Bharati Tamang was elected as the ABGL president.

ABGL contested the West Bengal legislative assembly elections held on 18 April 2011 from three constituencies in the Darjeeling hills. The three candidates Bharati Tamang from Darjeeling

Darjeeling (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

Darjeeling is an assembly constituency in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Extent:As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, No...

, Tribhuwan Rai from Kalimpong

Kalimpong (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

Kalimpong is an assembly constituency in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Extent:As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, No...

 and Shiva Kumar Pradhan from Kurseong

Kurseong (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

Kurseong is an assembly constituency in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Extent:As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, No...

all lost the elections.