Baichung Bhutia - the star - is set to outshine others?

Ashish Pradhan & Sankha Ghosh, SNS, Darjeeling/Siliguri: The Trinamul Congress’ star studded line-up will surely tilt the scales in the ruling party’s favour to some extent as north Bengal goes to the Lok Sabha elections this week, but the popular figures thumping the actual politicians is a different ballgame altogether.

Baichung Bhutia, who may need no introduction in the north Bengal region, is one of the three star candidates the Trinamul has fielded for the polls in the region, and voters here feel it is needless to say that he will shine. However, the only thing they are skeptical about is whether the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat candidate will pull it off.

“Baichung is undoubtedly the most popular figure (among the candidates) here and people of all ages surely like him, but we are talking politics here, and I wonder if he will be able to play the same game he played in the football field,” a 34-year-old Darjeeling resident, an avid football lover, said of the former captain of the Indian football team.

A resident of Phansidewa, near Siliguri, Basudeb Chandra Roy, said the football icon has a clean image and that he will surely feast on a good slice of the vote pie.

"Being a star, he has the edge. I hope he gets a very good response in the constituency, especially in the Hills," Mr Roy said.

But despite the ‘charm’ and craze among the youths in Darjeeling, Mr Bhutia will have a tough time proving his mettle in the Hills, observers say. “The foremost thing that comes to mind when talking of Bhaichung as the Darjeeling candidate is the fact that he is from Sikkim, and not a local lad,” a political observer, who requested anonymity, said.

Mr Bhutia’s candidature comes at a time when the Darjeeling-Sikkim ties have strained after Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling recently indicated that Darjeeling is a ‘hub for goons,’ and that his opponent, PS Golay of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha is relying on these ‘goons to spread violence in the state.’

However, according to Mr Bhutia, the Sikkim CM’s remarks will not have an effect on his Darjeeling candidature as he totally disagrees with and condemns Mr Chamling’s views.

“He (Chamling) needs to realize that if some development or progress has taken place in Sikkim, there is so much of contribution from the Darjeeling people. They may not be working directly with the government, but there are a lot of people from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and other areas here who are working in the private sector in Sikkim,” he said.

On the other hand, many locals in Siliguri feel Mr Bhutia will secure a ‘lot of votes’ in the Siliguri Assembly constituency.

The Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven Assembly segments -- Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong in the Hills and Siliguri, Phansidewa, Matigara-Naxalbari and Chopra in the plains."Mr Bhutia is very popular in Siliguri, with people flocking in thousands to see him whenever he played football at the Kanchanjungha stadium here. People in Siliguri love him and I feel no other candidate can beat him here,” a local said However, everyone in the plains does not feel he will perform well in politics.

"He is a novice when it comes to politics. He hails from Sikkim, for which he is being projected as an outsider," a resident of Matigara-Naxalbari block, Ratan Adhikary, said.

In Darjeeling, the youngsters are a divided lot. While a section of them feels he is an ‘outsider,’ others swear by him when they cast their ballots on 17 April.

“He is a star, and he is young, and belongs to our part of the world. I look up to him as a role model, while I also have faith in him, that he will work for the youths’ issues,” said one Sushma Ghimire,30, from Kalimpong.

Asked about the youngsters’ hopes and faith in him, Mr Bhutia said: “I will go to the youths after the elections and personally work with them, as I have to listen to them first, what they want me to do. I cannot say now what I will do for them and can’t make promises out of the wild.”

“Our party will have a youth wing (for the constituency) and I will see to it that it directly works with the youngsters here,” Mr Bhutia said in Siliguri. 

Whatever the feelings among the masses, whatever the political leanings, Mr Bhutia is a force this election that cannot be looked down upon, as this voter from Chopra said: "A star candidate always has advantages, and in this case, especially when it is expected that the Trinamul Congress will put up a good show statewide. Whether or not a candidate understands the region and the issues, Mr Bhutia can and will shine out just because of his star image.”