Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League to contest four Assembly constituencies in Dooars

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The Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League has said it will field candidates in four Assembly constituencies in the Dooars.

"We will field candidates in Malbazar and Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district and Kalchini and Madarihat in Alipurduar district in the upcoming Assembly polls," Ganesh Lama, an ABGL leader based in Nagrakata, said yesterday.

"Our party leader Bharati Tamang will campaign for the four seats. We are, however, yet to decide whether we will ally with any other political force," Lama added.

Sources said Lama would contest as the ABGL candidate in Nagrakata. This is the first time that the hill party, formed by slain leader Madan Tamang, is contesting in the plains.

Political observers said if the ABGL contested in the four seats, the party would eat into the vote base of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Many Morcha leaders, including Bimal Gurung, are accused of being involved in the murder of Madan Tamang.

Morcha leaders in the Dooars, however, are not ready to attach much importance to the ABGL. "We have a large number of voters in the Dooars. No other party can grab these votes," Madhukar Thapa, a central committee member of the Morcha based in the Dooars, said.(TT)