People in Darj in mixed minds, but will GJMM have the last laugh?

Manas Bannerjee, SNS, Siliguri, 28 March 2014: Mixed thoughts over the upcoming Lok Sabha elections abound among people in the Darjeeling constituency when it comes to predicting who will have the last laugh.While a man in the Hills predicted the GJMM-backed BJP candidate, SS Ahluwalia, would finally sail through, he was quick enough to give his statement a second thought, and again said predicting the outcome is actually as tough as the poll battle itself.

According to him, the political 'equation' has seen a sea change in the Darjeeling Hills, as compared to the Lok Sabha polls in 2009, and this time around, a multi-cornered contest will surely reduce the vote margin that the GJMM-backed BJP candidate will finally have in his kitty.

Even staunch GJMM supporters are at a toss as to who will be the numer uno this time, and wonder if the GJMM will be able to do a re-run of the 2009 polls when Jaswant Singh, the BJP candidate it supported, won a landslide.Political pundits claim that from Siliguri to Chopra, votes in the four assembly segments in the plains will be divided.

However, Swapan Sunuwar, a resident of Gorubathan in Kalimpong and Raja Saha of Siliguri, did not hesitate to say that the dominant party in the Hills, GJMM, will taste the ultimate victory. The duo is, however, also aware of the fact that Trinamul Congress candidate and football star Baichung Bhutia is not a factor to be looked down upon in Siliguri and two other segments in the plains. While a senior All India Gorkha League leader sees bright prospects for Mr Bhutia even in the Hills, a Kurseong-based observer begged to differ on this. According to the latter, the GJMM would hold sway in Darjeeling Hills, comprising three assembly segments, while independent candidate Mahendra P Lama would follow close behind. He, however, said he is still tearing his hair out when it comes to deciding who will secure the third position.

"There are more candidates like the CPI-M's Saman Pathak and candidates of other regional outfits would be contesting the polls here for the third position," he said.But a Darjeeling resident, who presently lives in Kolkata, said: "We cannot ignore TMC candidate Baichung in the Hills, though the GJMM still exercises control over rural belts in the three Hill sub-divisions and it will be able to take away a decent vote margin.

"TMC supporter, Raja Saha, a small trader on Hill Cart road in Siliguri, too, believes Mr Ahluwalia will have the last laugh.Two educated Nepali speaking youths, both residents of Champasari in Siliguri, also casually predicted that the GJMM will shine again. "The fight seems tough for the GJMM though, because its chief Bimal Gurung has lost his control over a major population of the Hills due to his recent indecision over the statehood movement and his failure to deliver on the development promises through the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration," they said.

The Gorubathan resident, Mr Sunuwar said: "The GJMM's vote bank has eroded 50 percent. But it will fight its opponents with the remaining fifty."