Kalimpong, Feb. 11: Congress members from Kalimpong recently met senior leaders in Calcutta and Delhi to submit a memorandum requesting the party to choose a candidate from the subdivision for the Lok Sabha poll.
The Congress representatives met Raiganj MP Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and All India Youth Congress secretary A. Thomas in Calcutta to press their demand. “We met them on February 9 and submitted a memorandum asking for a candidate from Kalimpong for the Lok Sabha election,” said Dilip Pradhan, the president of Darjeeling District (Hills) Youth Congress.
“A separate delegation ofCongress representatives also met senior leaders like Buta Singh and Ambika Soni in Delhi on the same date. We have received an assurance that the demand will be considered seriously, and unless a high profile candidate is chosen by the AICC, the candidate will be from Kalimpong,” said Pradhan.
There is speculation among Congress leaders and supporters here that party bosses may consider fielding Priyanka Gandhi or Buta Singh from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency.
“There are strong chances that either Priyanka Gandhi or Buta Singh will be chosen to contest the Lok Sabha election from here. This, however, has not been confirmed,” said a senior Kalimpong Congress leader who did not want to be named.
However, there seems to be a conflict of interest between the Darjeeling and Kalimpong units of the party over the choice of a candidate. While the Kalimpong leaders have suggested the names of Shanti Kumari Sharma and Surendra Parek, the Darjeeling unit has put forward the names of Dawa Narbula and Hem Rai.
“We want Shanti Kumar Sharma or Surendra Parek as our Lok Sabha candidate. We do not want a candidate from other areas of Darjeeling district to contest this time since a Kalimpong candidate has a better chance of winning,” said Pradhan.
Sharma is the Kalimpong Block 1 Congress president and Parek is the West Bengal Congress Seva Dal’s organising secretary.
Siliguri Congress leaders are, on the other hand, pitching for Shankar Malkar the district Congress (plains) president and AICC member.