Asok Bhattacharya: Sleepless nights ahead?

Siliguri, March 18: A section of the CPM is worried that Asok Bhattacharya might lose a major chunk of his votebank as Champasari, Matigara and Mirik will no longer be part of the Siliguri MLA’s constituency. The urban development minister is known to enjoy support in the rural areas and in Mirik, which will now be a part of Kurseong.

“The change means that we will have to work hard in the urban areas,” said a party insider. In the 2006 Assembly elections, Bhattacharya had secured 1,17,943 votes and had won by a margin of 74,971.

According to the delimitation commission’s announcement, Matigara-Naxalbari has been made into a new Assembly constituency in Darjeeling district and reserved for Scheduled Castes. The change has raised the total number of Assembly constituencies in the district to six, the old five being Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Phansidewa, Siliguri and Kurseong.

The redrawn Siliguri constituency will now have only 33 wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (1-30 and 45-47).

In Jalpaiguri, the Kranti constituency has been obliterated and Dabgram-Phulbari, an unreserved Assembly constituency covering the outskirts of Siliguri, has been formed. It covers 14 SMC wards (31-44), Dabgram I and II and Phulbari I and II village panchayats of Rajganj block. The total number of constituencies in the Jalpaiguri district remains 12, with only two unreserved constituencies, the other being Alipurduar.

The Lok Sabha seat of Jalpaiguri, which so long was unreserved, has been kept for SC candidates.

Jibitesh Sarkar, the state secretariat member of the CPM here, however, said it was too early to speak on the delimitation effect on the votebank.

“The Assembly elections will be held in 2011 and it is far away. We are not bothered about the rearrangement,” said Sarkar “Seats like the Matigara-Naxalbari and Dabgram-Phulbari are our strongholds and we will retain them.”

Party insiders echoed Sarkar and said these constutencues “are our sure shots” but added that efforts will have to be focussed on the urban areas. Bhattacharya’s constinecy now consist of 33 wards of the SMC, eight of which are under anti-Left Front councillors.

“With all the confirmed votebanks slipping out and the entry of eight anti-Left wards the margin of 74,000 will come down. The comfort level will also be less. We have to work hard to keep the same margin,” said a CPM councillor.

Their assessment matches with the present status of the 33 wards, which has LF councillors in 25 wards and councillors from anti-left parties in eight wards.