Lok Sabha elections: Mamata against Modi in Darjeeling

Elections for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, will be held on Friday in this land, which has been quiet for a few years. In the second phase, along with Darjeeling, elections will be held simultaneously in Raiganj and Balurghat of West Bengal on Friday.

This time in Darjeeling, there is a clash between the well-known rival Bharatiya Janata Party and the All India Trinamool Congress. BJP is the central ruling party while Trinamool is the ruling party in West Bengal. "Darjeeling election in particular is Mamata Venerjee against Narendra Modi," said Siliguri writer Raja Puniani, "Darjeeling won't get any benefits after the party wins."

According to him, basically both parties are right-wing and opportunistic. This party is also anti-Gorkhaland. BJP has nominated Raju Bista and Trinamool Congress has nominated former administrator Gopal Lama. However, the Indian National Congress, which is considered to be a liberal party, Dr. who is considered to be the intellectual leader of Darjeeling. Munish Tamang was made a candidate, but the trend of the voters is not much towards the Congress.

In the history of the 62-year-long Lok Sabha elections, the Indian National Congress from Darjeeling was the party that won the most elections. He had bet four times in different periods. In the initial elections in 1957, 1977, 1991 and the last time in 2004, the Nepali-speaking Dawa Narbula became the Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling.

However, the National Congress, which has been declining since 2004, has yet to climb the mountain.

Nepali speakers Ratanlal Brahmin (Myla Baje) and Anand Pathak entered the Indian Parliament after winning the Lok Sabha elections in 1971 and Anand Pathak from the Communist Party of India under the Communist regime in West Bengal. Mamta's party has not yet won in this area, which was also won by the independent candidate Maitri Basu in 1967. In 2011, Mamta She came to power by ending four decades long communist rule. Since then Trinamool has been continuously in power in West Bengal. However, she has always been losing a seat in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha.

Darjeeling voters don't like him much because of his intransigence towards Gorkhaland.

Instead, even if it doesn't work, Modi will give sweet assurances, the voters will believe . This time Prime Minister Modi only said "Darjeeling problem will be solved soon" without uttering the word Gorkhaland. However, he did not reveal what to solve.

Another demand raised after Gorkhaland in Darjeeling is to give tribal status to 11 castes. Modi may have promised to fulfill this demand. Darjeeling's leading journalist Vivek Chhetri Estimate is . According to Chhetri, Chhetri, Bahun, Bhujel, Thami, Newar, Gurung, Dhimal and Rai have been demanding to be listed in the tribe. The government has recognized only Limbu, Tamang, Sherpa, Bhote as tribes. This demand has also become an election issue this time.

The candidate of Trinamool has been supported by the regional party of Darjeeling Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantri Morcha . This party has a majority in the regional politics of Darjeeling. The Morcha has a majority in Panchayats, Municipalities and Gorkhaland Regional Administration. Anit Thapa, the leader of the front, said, "How can a party that has not been able to take any decision on Gorkhaland and has not even broken the tie yet win when the BJP wins for 15 years?"

The Bharatiya Janata Party nominated Raju Bista as a candidate for the second time. Darjeeling is located in the 'chicken neck' region. That is why the central government has listed it as a sensitive area. Darjeeling borders Bhutan to the east, Sikkim to the north, Nepal to the west and Bangladesh to the south.

The news that Bishta, a Nepali speaker from Manipur, got the ticket for the second time caused more dissatisfaction than happiness in Darjeeling. In particular, BJP has kept Darjeeling as a 'win sure' area. That is why Darjeeling is given a lot of importance by BJP. Before Bista, the Nepali-speaking diplomat and former foreign secretary of India Harshvardhan Shringla was also discussed. After a long discussion in his name, the BJP decided to repeat Bista again. Rather than Shringla not getting a ticket, the fact that Bishta got it again made the voters of Darjeeling very upset at the beginning.

Voters expected that BJP would give ticket to Raithane, Bhumiputra of Darjeeling. But, it was repeated to Bishta. Rajya Sabha MP Niraj Jimba Tamang said that after not finding a stronger candidate than Bista, BJP made him the candidate. As soon as Bisht heard the news that he got the ticket, the video of him dancing went viral on social media. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Bibi Bajgai, who won from Kharsang by making Bista a candidate again, gave a 'rebel' candidacy against Bista. Bimal Gurung of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Man Ghising of Gorkha Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, intellectual leader Dr. Mahendra P Lama and others have support. Lama, a BJP supporter, said, "If the BJP government is formed in Darjeeling, it will become the basis for addressing Nepali-speaking target issues such as a separate state, the issue of 11 tribes, and the formation of the North East Council."

This is the first time that BJP has repeated the same candidate in Darjeeling. The BJP, which has been winning continuously since 2009, made Bista its candidate this time too, determined not to lose. "The mindset of the voters was that they should choose a well-known candidate," said a BJP leader, "But, we need a candidate who will win, so Bista has been given a second chance."

Darjeeling has a total of 1.7 million voters. There are about 7 lakh voters in the three areas of the hills, Darjeeling, Kharsang and Kalebung, and 1 million voters in the four areas of the Terai, Siliguri, Matigadha-Naxalwari, Fasidewa and Chopra. Darjeeling's Out of 1,999 polling stations, 400 stations are considered highly sensitive.