BJP MLA to enter the fray against party’s Darjeeling nominee

A day after the BJP renominated MP Raju Bista from Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, the party’s Kurseong MLA, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, on Monday announced that he would contest as an Independent candidate against the official nominee.

Months ago, Mr. Sharma had demanded that a bhumipatra (son of the soil) be given the ticket from Darjeeling. Mr. Bista hails from Manipur and belongs to the Gurkha community.

“I will stand by what I had said in the past. Since the party has nominated an outsider, I will contest from Darjeeling as an Independent candidate,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu.

He said the last three MPs elected on BJP ticket, including Mr. Bista who won in 2019, were “outsiders”. “The party wants to say that there is no deserving candidate among the 17 lakh people of Darjeeling. Or these candidates are sent to put a lid on the demands of the locals of Darjeeling,” the BJP MLA said.

Elected from Kurseong in 2021 on a BJP ticket, Mr. Sharma has been one of most vocal legislators of the saffron party, who has been pushing for the creation of a separate State of Gorkhaland. The demand for Gorkhaland has dominated the politics of Darjeeling hills since 1980s.

The Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat comprises three constituencies Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in the hills as well as MartigaraNaxalbari, Siliguri, Phansidewa, Chopra in the foothills. Since 2009, the people of the constituency have been electing BJP MPs – Jaswant Singh (20092014), S.S. Ahluwalia (20142019) and Raju Bista (20192024).