‘All is not well for BJP in Darjeeling this Lok Sabha elections’
Darjeeling: Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency had been the stepping stone for the BJP to make political inroads in Bengal, with it winning a lone seat in the state in 2009. 15 years down the line it is an uphill task for the BJP and allies to continue the winning streak with assurances not being fulfilled in the past 15 years resulting in a crack in the BJP’s support base. Allegations of BJP’s attempt to end ‘regionalism’ along with infighting have further added to the woe.
This constituency consists of 7 Assembly segments, including Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong in the Hills and Siliguri, Matigara-Naxalbari, Phansidewa and Chopra in the plains.
The total number of voters here is 1765744. Out of this, 704587 are in the Hill segments and 1061157 in the segments located in the plains. There are 14 candidates in the fray. However, it would be a triangular fight this time between the TMC, BJP and the Left Front-Congress combined feel political observers.
The BJP had bagged the Darjeeling Parliamentary seat in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Riding piggyback on the Gorkhaland demand the BJP had managed to turn the Hill votes to its advantage. BJP heavyweight candidate Jaswant Singh (2009) first won from here followed by SS Ahluwalia in 2014 and Raju Bista in 2019.
Though not spelling out “Gorkhaland” the BJP Sankalp Patra (election manifesto) addendums for the LS polls have been phrased “to sympathetically consider the long-standing demand of the Gorkhas” allowing the BJP to weave narratives to suit their political budget. In 2019 the memorandum assured a “Permanent Political Solution” for the Darjeeling Hills along with inclusion of 11 lef-tout Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribe list. Despite a thumping victory for the BJP candidate Raju Bista in 2019, none of the assurances saw the light of day. Bista won from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, defeating the TMC candidate Amar Singh Rai by 302228 votes.
Political pundits state that there was an undercurrent against the TMC for having come down heavily on the Gorkhaland agitation of 2017 that had culminated in a 104-day-long bandh. The voting patterns also indicated that the Left Front votes of the plains had gone to the saffron kitty. In the plains, the Left had a 47 per cent vote share then. In the 2021 Assembly elections, BJP bagged Darjeeling and Kurseong seats, while the Kalimpong seat went to GJM (Binoy), an ally of the TMC, later christened the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM.) Interestingly honouring the regional sentiments the TMC had not fielded candidates in the three hill seats but had left the seats open to “friends” (read allies). However, this resulted in the splitting of votes with both factions of the GJM fielding candidates in all three Hill seats. In the plains, the BJP won the Siliguri, Matigara-Naxalbari, Phansidewa seats while the Chopra seat fell in the TMC kitty.
However, the TMC has managed to wrest the Corporation and Rural polls in the plains. In the Hills, BGPM, an ally of the TMC, has performed well in both the GTA and the Rural polls, held after a gap of nearly 25 years in the Hills.
With the BJP failing to live up to its commitments in the past 15 years and ‘regionalism’ taking a front seat could result in upsetting the BJP’s apple cart. ‘Gorkhaland’, still ruling the roost in every Hill election, has seen BP Sharma, the BJP MLA from Kurseong contesting in the Lok Sabha fray as an independent candidate. Accusing the BJP of putting a lid on Gorkhaland and of fielding outsider candidates like Bista (who hails from Manipur) Sharma has been asking the Hills to vote for him for Gorkhaland. Further, Hamro Party, the second largest party in the Hills has left the BJP fold and joined the INDIA bloc. “15 years is enough time. For how long can we tow the BJP line of empty promises and deceit? Both the TMC and the BJP will give nothing to the Hills. Whatever the Hills have got, including the DGHC, GTA and inclusion of Nepali in the 8th Schedule has been under the Congress,” stated Ajoy Edwards, President Hamro Party. Munish Tamang, with roots in the Hills has been fielded by the Congress, backed by HP and the Left Front.
Gopal Lama, son of the soil and a retired bureaucrat, has been fielded by the TMC backed by the BGPM. The TMC has entrusted BGPM with the entire campaigning in the Hills while the TMC is campaigning in the plains.
“BJP is going all out to finish regionalism.
BJP’s JP Nadda, in an election campaign in Sikkim, had given a clarion call to bid goodbye to regional parties. How will regional aspirations, including Gorkhaland survive? Darjeeling will show the exit route to BJP from Bengal,” stated Anit Thapa, President, BGPM.
Meanwhile, the BJP has reassured the Hills that the political solution will be resolved along with the inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-communities in the Scheduled Tribe list. “PM Modi assured that the solution to the Gorkha impasse is near,” stated Bista. “Let Modiji or any BJP leader hold a debate with me with facts and figures. Let them state what they have done for Darjeeling in the past 10 years and we will furnish our report on what the state government has done in the past 10 years. Let the public decide. BJP will not get a place to hide also. You have trusted and tried all the political parties, now give TMC a chance for two years,” TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has assured.
With a strike-free Darjeeling since the unrest of 2017, good tourist flow and welfare schemes like Laxmir Bhandar going in favour of TMC and ally BGPM, the scales could tilt in the BJP bastion.
Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA from Siliguri recently was heard appealing to the Left Front to vote for the BJP, a clear indicator that the BJP itself is not taking things for granted. As Darjeeling gears up for the crucial showdown on April 26, the electorate faces a pivotal decision that could shape the region’s trajectory for years to come.
