GNLF leader Neeraj Zimba will contest as a BJP candidate for the Darjeeling Assembly seat bypoll on May 19, backed by his party and the Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
Zimba is a GNLF spokesperson now. “Neeraj Zimba will contest as a BJP candidate. We have seen the spontaneous support of the people for the BJP in the hills in the parliamentary elections (on April 18). We feel the wave in favour of the BJP is still strong and have decided to field him (Zimba) as a common candidate,” B.P. Bajgain, spokesperson for the Gurung faction, said here on Friday.
The move is seen a rerun of what Trinamul and the Binay Tamang faction of the Morcha did in the Lok Sabha polls this time. Amar Singh Rai, the Morcha Darjeeling MLA, was fielded as Trinamul’s candidate in the Lok Sabha seat. Rai quit as MLA, necessitating the bypoll.
Zimba said: “We want to defeat Binay Tamang, who has joined hands with the state government.”
- Additional reporting by Vivek Chhetri in Darjeeling