District BJP tilts to Raju Bista as possible LS candidate for Darjeeling seat

EOI, DARJEELING, FEBRUARY 29, 2024 : With the Lok Sabha election round the corner, the BJP is having its hands full in the hills choosing between names of probable candidates doing the rounds for the Darjeeling seat, even as the saffron party is yet to make an official announcement. 

The Darjeeling District Committee of the BJP on Thursday took cognizance of the confusion and asked people not to get swayed by unsubstantiated claims. 

Addressing news persons, Darjeeling district BJP, spokesperson Sanjeev Lama said: “As the Lok Sabha poll is nearing, many people are claiming to be the party's candidate from the Darjeeling seat. We want to tell people that our party high command has not made any official announcements. Any decision on the candidate will betaken after consulting our units ,party activists and alliance partners. As such all claims are rumours. 

"Among the names doing the rounds are those of former Secretary External Affairs Harsh Vardhan Shringla, former Special Protection Group official Gyacho Tshering Lepcha who had served in the security protocol of Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra P Lama and sitting MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista. 

Some of the probable candidates have already started public outreach campaigns and are engaged in social work. 

"There are some who are doing social work. We have nothing against this, as we feel itis a good thing. In the previous elections also there were people who were engaged in such work. However such activities should not be used to put their names upas a candidate of our party," said Lama. 

Asserting that the Darjeeling District Committee of the BJP will also be a part of the decision making process Lama said: “We will also be sending our suggestion to our central committee as regards to who we think the candidate for this area should be. Our decision might be our present MP as he has done a lot of work for our region. He (Bista) has not only helped people but also raised his voice for the people of the hills in Parliament frequently. 

However, the final decision for the candidate will be taken by our higher command in Delhi". 

Lama also clarified that the Centre had put a freeze on the disbursement of funds for 100days’ work because of the rampant corruption involved.. 

“The State Government has sanctioned funds for the pending dues of the 100 days’ work, claiming that the Union Government had stopped it. The reason is that there was rampant corruption. More than 2.5millionfake job cards were created in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress leaders and cadres are involved in syphoning the funds. 

The Centre was clear that they would release the funds only after the previous funds that had been wrongly used were returned, ”said Lama. 

Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, the ruling dispensation in the hills and an ally of the Trinamool Congress, has started claiming the West Bengal government has started releasing the blocked MGNREGS funds to the beneficiaries and has praised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee