Darjeeling municipality polls: TMC will be fielding candidates in all 32 wards
Darjeeling: Darjeeling Municipality will be going to polls along with 107 other civic bodies of the State on February 27. Political outfits have shifted into election-mode with the publication of election notification on Thursday.
The district administration held an all party meeting in Darjeeling on Thursday. "There will 82 polling stations for the civic polls. Filing of nominations started at 11am on Thursday and will continue till February 9. February 10 is the date of scrutiny and February 12 is the last date of withdrawal of nominations," stated Dulen Roy, SDO, Darjeeling.
Because of Covid-19 restrictions in place, campaigning will be different than past elections. "There can be door to door campaigning but with a highest number of 5 persons including the candidate. In open spaces meetings can be held with 500 persons maximum. Rallies and bike rallies will not be allowed," added the SDO.
Political outfits including the Trinamool Congress, Hamro Party, Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have already started groundwork for the elections. They have been holding ward meetings and have started e-campaigns in social media.
"TMC will be fielding candidates in all 32 wards of the Darjeeling Municipality. The issues that we will stress on is drinking water to all households under the AMRUT scheme, upgradation of Municipality to Corporation, waste and sewage management, parking spaces, land documents (Pattas)," stated NB Khawas, TMC Spokesperson.
The BJP resurrected the separate state demand. "People should not forget the main aspiration of the Gorkhas. There is a clear divide between the main aspiration (read Gorkhaland) and Development. People should remember this while voting," stated Kalyan Dewan, District President, BJP, Darjeeling (Hills.)
"This is civic elections. How can separate state demand be linked to this? However, people cannot be fooled this time. Times have changed and so has hill politics. People are more aware now. Municipal elections is about civic amenities and issues and not separate state" stated Amar Lama of BGPM.
