Bhutan votes, Jaigaon waits for results

ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY, TT, 19 Oct 2018, Alipurduar: The residents of Jaigaon, the town on the IndiaBhutan border, immersed themselves in Durga Puja celebrations like in other parts of Bengal but were at the same time curious about elections in the Himalayan country.

Their friends and acquaintances living across the border voted for the third time on Thursday for the formation of the National Assembly.

Bhutan went for the final round of polling to elect members of the 47-seat National Assembly. On September 15, the residents had votes for the primary round.

The Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa that secured the highest number of votes in the primary round has won by securing 30 of 47 seats, said the provisional results released by Bhutan Broadcasting Service.

Candidates of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa that was in the second position in the primary round won the remaining 17 seats. The gate to enter Phuentsholing, located in Bhutan on the other side of the border, from Jaigaon was closed at 6pm on Wednesday for security reasons. It reopened at 6pm on Thursday.

"The market in Jaigaon was virtually closed on Thursday because of the elections in Bhutan. The gate was closed and there was no trade or traffic. We are eager to know the results as it seems that a new party will come to power. We hope whoever comes to power, they will ensure that the relations between India and Bhutan are intact and the scale of bilateral trade increases in due course," said R.S Gupta, the secretary of the Jaigaon Chamber of Commerce.

On the border, the Sashastra Seema Bal kept a close watch. Alipurduar district police conducted patrolling and checking of vehicles on roads closer to the border.

The residents of Jaigaon were eager to see their friends move in to the town during evening hours and join them in the festivities.

"The elections are over and a new National Assembly would be formed soon. As the results will be out by Thursday late evening, a number of people from Bhutan would be in Jaigaon to join us in the Durga Puja celebrations. From Friday, trade and movement of vehicles and people will be back to normal," said Jayanth Mundra, the secretary of the Marwari Yuva Manch in Jaigaon..