Darjeeling LS segment braces for a divided vote

REZA PRADHAN, SNS, DARJEELING, 10 APRIL:  Darjeeling constituency is bracing for Lok Sabha elections and resit It s that observers say will not be the same as in the past, with votes expected to be divided among the 16 candidates who are contesting the 17th Parliamentary elections. Most elections in the constituency in the recent past have seen one candidate supported by a major party winning a landslide. While the total number of voters is 15,988,63 this time around in the seven assembly segments of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, three assembly segments of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong fall in the hills and they have about 6,65,776 voters. The remaining assembly segments fall in the plains, namely Siliguri, Matigara-Naxalbari, Phansidewa and Chopra. There are 8,06,298 male and 7,92,543 female voters, while the number for the third gender community is 22. In the Kalimpong Assembly constituency, the number of male voters stands at 1,01,286 and the number for female voters is 1,02,034, and there are two third gender voters. 

In the Darjeeling Assembly constituency, the number of male voters is 1,15,665, while there are 1,19,1193 female voters. In Kurseong, the male voters number 1,11,536 and female voters stand at 1,16,158, with there being two third gender voters. At Matigara-Naxalbari, there are 1,32,897 male voters and 1,32,693 female voters, and Siliguri has 1,09,611 male, 1,05,181 female voters and one third gender voter. Phansidewa has 1,13,903 male voters with 1,09, 640 female voters and 5 people from the third gender. Chopra has 1,21,400 male, 1,07, 744 female and 12 third gender voters. In the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Darjeeling parliamentary constituency had 1,41,4,168 voters, with 13 candidates contesting the polls. The major contenders were BJP candidate SS Ahluwalia (backed by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha, which was then headed by Bimal Gurung) and Trinamul Congress candidate Bhaichung Bhutia (backed by the Gorkha National Liberation Front). Mr Alhuwalia emerged victorious with a huge margin of 1,99,826 votes, with him also getting good response in the Plains. From the total vote of 11,60,157 cast in the seven assembly constituencies, 4,91,202 went to the BJP's kitty, while the TMC stood second with 2,91,373. The Morcha-BJP alliance had fared well not only in all the three Hill constituencies, but also the Plains. Mr Ahluwalia got 1,02,740 votes in the Darjeeling assembly segment, 85,866 in Kalimpong and 1,00,411 in Kurseong, while Mr Bhutia secured 29,426 in Darjeeling , 27,117 in Kalimpong and 34,728 in Kurseong. Mr Ahluwalia also led in the three scats of Siliguri. Matigara¬Naxalbari and Phansidewa, while he lagged behind in the third position in Chopra.The GJMM-BJP candidate got 58,730 votes in Siliguri, 63,760 in Matigara-Naxalbari, 49,137 in Phansidewa and only 27,220 in Chopra, where 49,985 votes went in the TMC's kitty. Mr Bhutia was a close second in Siliguri, Matigara-Naxalbari and Phansidewa with 51,204; 54,083 and 44,226 votes, respectively. Other contenders like CPI-M candidate Saman Pathak bagged 1,66,484, votes while Congress candidate Sujoy Ghatak won 88,420, and Independent candidate Mahendra P Lama secured 55,744 votes in the parliamentary seat. A total of 18,030 votes also fell on the NOTA  (Non of the above) category.

This time around, even the number of candidates contesting is more, the main fight, political observers feel, will be between TMC candidate Amar Singh Rai backed by the Morcha's Binoy Tamang camp and BJP candidate Raju Bista, who is being backed by the Morcha's Bimal Gurung camp and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). Though issues like Gorkhaland, which has been a major one in the past, have taken a back seat this time around, land rights documents and minimum wages for tea workers have featured in most of the parties' campaigns. However, there are political parties like the Jan Andolan Party and GULF, which are fighting the polls on the demand for Gorkhaland. The total polling station on the other hand this time is 1,899, with 410 in urban areas. Kalimpong has 261 polling stations, Darjeeling has 321 and Kurseong has 292. Matigara¬Naxalbari has 307, Siliguri has 245, while Phansidewa has 248 and Chopra has 225 polling stations. There will also be about 64 all-women polling stations, officials have said. With polling to beheld on 18 April, counting will be held on 23 May at counting centres in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Siliguri.