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The Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, starting in the third week of this month.
TMC's Gopal Lama will be facing BJP's Raju Bista from the Darjeeling seat. Bista said while speaking to ANI, "Whatever I have done for the public here, it is there out for everyone to see. The entire public of Darjeeling is standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party." Gopal Lama said, "There is no challenge for us (in the Lok Sabha elections). We are working for the people and we are receiving a good response from them. We are trying to win". Replying to a query, he said, "The public has rejected the BJP. He is not a local (BJP candidate). He is from Manipur. People don't have a great liking for him." The tea industry is one of the main economic backbones of Darjeeling. A tea trader said, "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji chaiwalle hai, Hum bhi chaiwalle hai. We need everyone's support. The focus should be on the tea industry. The industry should run smoothly. There should not be so many rules and regulations.". In the 2019 general elections, the Darjeeling seat was won by the BJP's candidate, Raju Bista, by securing 750,067 votes, followed by the Congress's Amar Singh Rai with 336,624 votes. Trinamool Congress candidate Sankar Malakar ended up in third place with 65,186 votes. TMC announced its list of 42 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections earlier on March 10. The Lok Sabha elections in 42 Parliamentary Constituencies of West Bengal are scheduled to take place in seven phases, which will start on April 19 and conclude on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 22 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 18 out of the 42 parliamentary seats in the state. The Indian National Congress (INC) was limited to only two seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC had a stronger hold with 34 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had only 2 seats. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 2 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) secured 4 seats. (ANI)
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