Baichung’s got a goal... is it a winner?

Deep Gazmer, TOI, ,TNN | Mar 6, 2014, KOLKATA/DARJEELING: He's scored many goals on the field, but it's still far from certain if Baichung Bhutia can score a vital one for his new party, the Trinmool Congress, from the Darjeeling seat. Baichung has many things going for him, but what will make a win for him certain is an endorsement from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). 

The GJM refused to spell out its stand on Wednesday after TMC announced its list of candidates. "We will not say anything now," Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri told TOI. That's because GJM wants to negotiate and get the best deal from either the BJP or the Trinamool. "The BJP is likely to come to power in Delhi and if we support a BJP candidate, we stand to gain a lot. At the same time, maintaining cordial relations with Trinamool is essential for us. But we will have problems within our organization if we support Baichung outright," said a top GJM leader. Party chief Bimal Gurung is planning to go to Delhi soon to hold parleys with BJP leaders. 

In an election where every seat counts, the Darjeeling Seat, comprising seven assembly constituencies — three in the Hills with an overwhelming majority of Nepali-speaking voters and four in the plains where Nepali-speaking voters constitute 5% to 15% of the electorate — assumes importance for both the BJP and the Trinamool. Baichung, being the Trinamool candidate and a popular footballer, is sure to get a majority of the votes from Bengalidominated Matigara-Naxalbari , Siliguri, Phansidewa and Chopra assembly segments of the Darjeeling parliamentary seat. But the going in the Hills would be tougher for him. 

Baichung is looked upon as an 'outsider' in the Darjeeling Hills since he is from Sikkim. The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), which has a considerable following in the tea gardens in the Hills, has already said it would not support an "outsider put up by a party which is opposed to a Gorkhaland state". 

Also, Baichung is pitted against Mahendra Lama, the former vice-chancellor of Sikkim Central University , and senior faculty of JNU, who is contesting as an Independent. Lama is from Darjeeling and is well-regarded in the Hills as well as among a section of the educated urban voters in Siliguri with whom he has studiously built a rapport over the past couple of years. Lama also has the support of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League which, again, is popular with a section of the electorate in the Hills. 

Trinamool hopes that the majority of the votes from the four assembly segments in the plains and from a section of the voters in the Hills would see Baichung through. But it could still be the GJM that could grant or deny him that vital edge.