Darjeeling seat buzz on CM trip ... Mamata visiting Darjeeling

TT, 21 Jan 2019, Siliguri: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will arrive here on Monday on four-day trip to north Bengal amid speculation that some decisions might be taken on the candidate for the Darjeeling parliamentary seat now held by the BJP.

The visit will start with Mamata inaugurating Uttrarbanga Utsav, the annual cultural fest hosted by the state government, here in Siliguri on Monday.

Later, she will travel to the hills and attend the birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in Darjeeling.

In recent times, there have been a number of political developments in hills. Among these, the most significant are some of the moves of the Binay Tamang-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Firstly, Tamang has unequivocally asserted that his party will not support the BJP. "That Tamang is having a cordial relation with Trinamul government and state ministers and leaders of the party, is an open secret. His presence at the Brigade Parade Ground on Monday has further confirmed that there are efforts from both sides to strengthen their ties," said an observer.

In such a situation and when the Parliament elections are drawing near, there is always a chance that Morcha leaders might hold talks with the chief minister during her visit on a number of issues, the most important being a decision on Darjeeling seat.

"A section of leaders, both in Morcha and Trinamul, want that the Morcha should field a candidate who is from the hills and Trinamul should extend support. But there are some who want the candidate to contest under Trinamul's banner and want Morcha to support him," said a source.

That is why unlike most other constituencies of the state, the Darjeeling seat thus needs discussions, more so because BJP has won in the seat twice and Trinamul has never won it.

At the culture fest on Monday, Mamata will hand over the "Bangaratna" awards to Swapna Barman of Jalpaiguri, the athlete who had won gold in heptathlon at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018, along with eight other eminent personalities of north Bengal. "She (Mamata) will also distribute scholarships among 100 meritorious students," said state tourism minister Gautam Deb..