DDUDF door-to-door campaign in Sukhay-Manebhanjyang, women get threats in Kurseong

With political parties diving headlong into campaigning for their respective candidates, the political heat is on the rise in the Darjeeling hills. Stepping up its poll campaign, the Sukhay branch of the DDUDF today kicked-off its door-to-door campaigning. Organisation members have begun visiting every house in the region to apprise people about the election agenda of the DDUDF and to garner support for independent candidate Dr. Mahendra P Lama.
A DDUDF team comprising regional convener Suresh Kumar Chettri, joint convener Bidhan Lama and members Bikash Rai, Tenzing Sherpa and Pravin Tamang, among others visited several villages under Sukhay-Manebhanjyang and discussed the 25-point poll agenda.
Talking to this correspondent, Chettri said voters gave weight to agendas during the past elections, but never weighed the ability and sincerity of the candidate. “This time we have a competent and able candidate in Dr. Lama. Enabling his victory will be beneficial beyond doubt for Darjeeling and the Terai-Dooars,” asserted Chettri.
He said the team had met Singalila Salamander Association representatives Kalu Tamang, Raju Pradhan and others during the Manebhanjyang visit some days ago and have discovered that most locals are in favour of Dr. Lama. (EOIC)

DDUDF women get threats in Kurseong

Kurseong, 20 March
The women’s wing of the Darjeeling Dooars United Development Forum (DDUDF) was threatened as it organised a programme as part of its election campaign in a tea estate area in Kurseong, its members said today.
The DDUDF is a non-political organization, under which the renowned academician, Mahendra P Lama, is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Darjeeling constituency as an independent candidate.
The DDUDF and its different wings, including the women’s wing, have been campaigning in favour of Mr Lama at different places in the Hills for the past several days.
According to the women’s wing members, as they were almost done with the door-to-door campaigning in all the areas of the tea estate today, an unidentified person approached them and gave them a mobile phone set and asked them to talk to the person on the line.
“The caller asked us to leave the area immediately. He said that he cannot harm us immediately as we are women, but warned us against coming back again for the poll campaign in the area,” one of the members of the women’s wing said.
“These are areas of our leader and no one will be allowed to campaign here,” the member quoted the person as telling them.
A woman leader said that since their leader, Mr Lama, has said that they should not keep any sort of enmity with anyone, no FIR has been filed with the police against the incident.
However the women have decided to take Mr Lama himself to the area again for further campaigning.(SNS)