The five-phase Lok Sabha poll in West Bengal rolls out tomorrow in
four constituencies of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and
Alipurduar - all in north Bengal.
A closely-fought contest is anticipated in the Darjeeling
constituency between GJM-backed BJP candidate S S Ahluwalia and
Trinamool Congress candidate Baichung Bhutia, the two representing the
two sides of a bitter war over statehood for the hills.
Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal will be in five phases from April 17 to May 12.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Darjeeling had gone to the BJP, while
in the other three constituencies left Front candidates had emerged
victorious.
A total of 60,14,258 voters, of whom 31,14,184 are men and 29,00,024
women, are eligible to make their choices among 47 candidates in
four-cornered contests.
A number of top national leaders have campaigned in these
constituencies. While BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi
addressed a huge rally at Siliguri, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
attended a workers’ meet in the Dooars.
Though the TMC has never won any of these north Bengal seats, it is
banking on its good performance in the 2011 Assembly elections and is
making an all-out effort to open its account in this area.
The CPI(M) has, however, kept its campaign in these constituencies
low key depending on the candidates and local leaders to spearhead the
campaign.
While RSP has fielded sitting MP Manohar Tirkey from Alipurduars,
CPI(M)’s incumbent in Jalpaiguri seat Mahendra Roy has also been
fielded.
Press Trust of India | Kolkata | April 16, 2014