Niraj Zimba to contest as independent if BJP denies ticket to Raju Bista at Darjeeling LS seat

EOI, DARJEELING, MARCH 16, 2024 : With the BJP yet to announce its candidate from the Darjeeling constituency, BJP MLA Niraj Zimba on Saturday said sitting M.P. Raju Bista should be given the ticket and said he would contest the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate if the BJP failed to give Bista the ticket. 

On Saturday, Zimba told reporters after much introspection he had taken the decision. "Bista is the 'karma putra' of Darjeeling.

He has worked from the streets to Parliament for the Gorkhas. Bista has good lobby in Delhi, with BJP leaders. And most importantly the sitting MP is sentimentally attached with our Gorkhaland demand, "he said. 

 Even as the Trinamool Congress has announced candidates from all 42 seats, the BJP has declared candidates for only19 seats including six from north Bengal. 

Bista's name is doing the rounds in the Darjeeling hills as prospective BJP candidate along with that of former bureaucrat and the G20 coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla who is making himself visible in the region through his NGO Darjeeling Welfare Society."Bista is not only the people's choice but even the opposition political parties want him as the candidate.

Supporting Bista is safeguarding and preserving the Gorkhaland issue. It is not the time to experiment with new candidates," said Zimba.

The MLA said he had written to BJP national president, J. P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah apprising them of his decision. "I have already informed the senior most BJP leaders about my decision. If Bista is not given the ticket then I will contest as an independent candidate, under protest against the party," said Zimba. 

Earlier, BJP MLA from Kurseong B. P. Bajgain had demanded that a "bhumiputra" candidate must begiven the BJP ticket for the Darjeeling seat and voiced his opposition to the party fielding candidates from outside the hill region.

Bajgain, too, had said he would contest the poll as an independent, if his party leadership in Delhi nominated a candidate from outside for the Darjeeling seat. 

It was learnt that the BJP was expected to declare the names of the rest of its candidates on March 19.Zimba did not mince words, saying it was time for the BJP fulfill its election promises of finding a permanent political solution for the hills and granting tribal status to the11 left-out Gorkha communities. 

"When will Delhi wake up?" is the million dollar question. 

The BJP has been generous to others. The issues of the Gorkhas cannot be swept under the carpet anymore. Now is not the time to write in election manifestos but to deliver justice to the Gorkhas," Zimba said. 

Zimba is the secretary general of the Gorkha National Liberation Front but contested the Assembly election in West Bengal from the Darjeeling seat in2021 with a BJP ticket. The GNLF is the ally of the BJP since 2019