The crown of Bengal has always been a thorn in the heart for Trinamool
Congress. Since its formation in 1998, the Mamata Banerjee-led party
has not been able to win Darjeeling even once.
In fact, the
Gorkha-dominated constituency has been electing BJP representatives
since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the hope that a separate state
from West Bengal would be carved out for them.
This
time, however, Trinamool has the backing of a prominent Gorkha Janmukti
Morcha faction led by Binay Tamang. The BJP, on the other hand, is
being backed by the main GJM faction led by Bimal Gurung, and also the
Gorkha National Liberation Front.
The BJP has replaced sitting MP
Surinder Singh Ahluwalia with Raju Singh Bisht this time. Trinamool has
fielded former GJM MLA Amar Singh Rai. It's practically a straight
contest between the two as the CPI(M) and Congress have been rendered
irrelevant in this constituency over the past few years.
This election is different for Darjeeling in another aspect as well.
For the first time in three decades, the separate Gorkhaland issue has
taken a backseat in this Lok Sabha constituency. Regional aspirations,
however, prevail.
For the BJP, which has set a target of winning
22 out of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, Darjeeling holds a
special place. The GJM has been supporting BJP in the last two Lok Sabha
elections in the hope that it is their best bet to realise Gorkhaland.
Darjeeling
has sent BJP's Jaswant Singh and SS Ahluwalia to Parliament in 2009 and
2014 respectively. In 2014, except Trinamool, all major political
parties, including BJP, CPI(M) and Congress, faced massive erosion in
their vote share.
While the vote share of CPI(M) and Congress went
down by 11 per cent, the BJP saw a vote share plunge of 9 per cent.
Despite that, the BJP retained the seat with a 17 per cent vote margin.
Also, this was the first time Trinamool finished second in the seat.
Darjeeling,
the epicentre of the separate Gorkhaland movement, has often seen
violent protests, leading to deaths, arson and bandhs - crippling social
and economic activities - in the last three decades. This time, the
constituency goes to polls on April 18.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool had won 34 seats. The BJP
and Left Front won two seats each, while the Congress pocketed four.
For
Mamata Banerjee, who has been credited with bringing an end to the
34-year-old Left government in West Bengal, there has been no looking
back since 2009. Trinamool swept every election held in the state since
then - from Lok Sabha to panchayat polls - but could never cut a slice
in Darjeeling's hills.
Trinamool had allied with the BJP in the
1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections and with the Congress in the 2004
Parliamentary polls to fight the Left Front. In 1999, Trinamool Congress
candidate Tarun Roy came third here.
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