Shankar Ghosh, the outgoing Siliguri BJP MLA and the party’s candidate from the Assembly constituency, released his manifesto on Saturday, outlining ambitious infrastructure and urban development projects.

Ghosh said: “We will follow a master plan to make Siliguri a modern and smart city, with a focus on sustainable and planned development. This will ensure better infrastructure and improved urban living.”

Ghosh’s proposals prioritise infrastructure development and urban transformation.

These include the establishment of a cancer hospital, widening of key roads, construction of foot overbridges, multi-level car parking facilities, and the introduction of AI-based traffic management systems.

He promised to construct an IT Park, a logistics hub and a food processing industry to generate employment opportunities.

“The IT Park and food processing industries will create jobs, while the logistics hub will help accelerate projects like the proposed Varanasi–Siliguri corridor and the Dankuni–Cooch Behar industrial corridor,” he said.

A highlight of his vision is the expansion of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area through delimitation to form a Greater Siliguri Municipal Corporation, aimed at delivering more efficient civic services.

He also proposed introducing a single-window online system to streamline administrative services.

Ghosh promised infrastructure upgrades such as new guest houses, a convention centre and auditorium, improved marketplaces, enhanced sports facilities and the establishment of a North Bengal Sports Academy. He also spoke about providing land rights to residents.

Some of the projects mentioned in his manifesto are being implemented by the Trinamool-run civic board with support from central government schemes.

These include the rejuvenation of rivers and rivulets which flow through the city. The civic body is also working on a major drinking water project under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme.

Ghosh also elaborated on the work he has done over the past five years, like setting up bus stands, toilet blocks, roads, street lights, a water reservoir, a children’s park and boundary walls across the city.