Manoj Tigga is the BJP candidate for John Barla’s seat

The Chief Whip of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Manoj Tigga, has been nominated by the BJP for the Alipurduar Lok Sabha Constituency, which is designated for Scheduled Tribes, in its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, which was made public on Saturday. Notably, John Barla became the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs after winning this seat in 2019 with the BJP ticket.

After two elections, Mr. Tigga was chosen by the BJP to be the candidate for Madarihat MLA. He was also named district president by the party in the previous year. Nisith Pramanik, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, has been renominated by the BJP to run in the Lok Sabha elections from Cooch Behar. Three party MPs from North Bengal are still up for election, even though the party leadership renominated Khagen Murmu, an MP from Malda North.

The party did not disclose the names of its candidates for the Lok Sabha seats in Darjeeling, Raiganj, and Jalpaiguri in its first list. The party has put up state party president and current MP Dr. Sukanta Majumdar for the Balurghat Lok Sabha seat. Srirupa Mitra Chowdhury, who was narrowly defeated by the Congress in 2019 for the Malda South Lok Sabha constituency, has been renominated by the BJP. Sources claim that several party officials and candidates in Malda are dissatisfied with the party’s choice to field English Bazaar MLA Srirupa.

However, some BJP officials and followers, particularly in Darjeeling, are anxiously awaiting the release of the second list in order to learn more about the candidates running for the three Lok Sabha seats that are still open. Remarkably, some party members anticipate that the party would propose Harsh Vardhan Shringla, a former foreign secretary and head of the G20 Presidency, to succeed Raju Bista, the incumbent Member of Parliament. Over the last several months, Mr. Shringla has organized many programs under the Darjeeling Welfare Society’s auspices to reach out to the people in seven parts of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency.

It’s interesting to note that Neeraj Zimba, a BJP MLA from Darjeeling and a close friend of Mr. Bista, told the press today that he had written Prime Minister Narendra Modi a letter requesting Gorkhaland using his own blood. In the places where the party has declared its candidates, party activists have launched wall-graffiti campaigns. The government has now sent out Central soldiers, who have begun route marches across the districts of North Bengal.