9 candidates to fight it out in Darjeeling Assembly by-polls

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 17 May 2019 |Darjeeling: The stage is all set for the Assembly by-polls in Darjeeling to be held on May 19. There are 9 candidates in the fray in the by-polls.
There are 321 polling stations in the Assembly constituency. The number of voters is 234758 including 115665 males and 119093 females. There are 3,950 service voters as well. Polling personnel departed for the P-2 booths on Friday.
The P-2 booths are those that are located in remote areas and require more than a day to reach. In some cases, man loads and ponies are used to carry the EVMs and VVPATs.

There are three such P-2 booths in the Darjeeling district and 11 in Kalimpong. The P-2 booths in Darjeeling include Danragaon, Srikhola Primary School and Rammam Forest Village Primary School in Darjeeling district. The P-2 booths in Darjeeling include the highest booth (Srikhola Primary School at 11000 ft). Along with the state police, CAPF will be deputed for the elections.

"We have got 16 company of CAPF for elections. They have already started area domination and route marches," stated Amarnath K, Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling.
Campaigning ended at 5 pm on Friday with political parties holding rallies and going on door-to-door visits.
Incidentally, Amar Singh Rai, the MLA from Darjeeling, had resigned and is contesting the Lok Sabha elections. He has been fielded by the TMC backed by the GJM (Binay Tamang faction). With Rai resigning, the seat had fallen vacant.