CM, Shah to address rallies in hills today

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 11 Apr 2019, Darjeeling: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP national president Amit Shah will address public meetings in the Darjeeling hills on Thursday -- the presence of the two leaders reflective of the intense electoral battle the Darjeeling constituency is expected to witness this time.

While Mamata will address the meeting at Darjeeling Motor Stand here, Shah's rally will be held at Ronaldshay Park in Kalimpong. Both will be holding the election meetings in the hills for the first time this year.

The speeches by Mamata and Shah could be decisive for the constituency.

"Our supporters will come from Darjeeling and Kalimpong tomorrow (Thursday). Supporters from Kurseong will not attend the meeting as Mamata will address a public meeting there on Friday," said Keshav Raj Pokhrel, a central committee member of the Gorkha Jannmukti Morcha's Binay Tamang faction, which supports Trinamul candidate Amar Singh Rai.

Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP's minder for Bengal, reached Kalimpong on Wednesday. "We are expecting a huge turnout and for that, the venue looks small, the roads are also narrow and there could be traffic snarls," he said.

Binay Tamang, the president of the Morcha, too, expressed similar fears. "We appeal to our supporters to reach Darjeeling by 9 am." The Darjeeling meeting starts at 11am.

The Trinamul chief reached Darjeeling on Wednesday evening. Shah will fly to Kalimpong on Thursday. Morcha leaders who have started an extensive campaign for granting land rights to tea and cinchona plantation dwellers expect that Mamata will make some concrete announcement in this regard.

Demand for proper land rights for people residing in Darjeeling Improvement Fund and development area is also the focus of the Morcha in the campaign.

A committee that espouses the land right cause issued a press statement, extending support to Amar Singh Rai.

BJP candidate Raju Bista has asked why the Bengal government has failed to grant land rights though permission was given to set up tourism facilities in tea gardens.

The other issue that is expected to figure prominently in the speeches of Mamata and Shah is the National Register of Citizens. Shah had already said the NRC would be conducted in Bengal if the BJP came to power.

Main other candidates in the fray are Sankar Malakar of the Congress, Saman Pathak of the CPRM and Harka Bahadur Chhetri of the JAP.