In a significant move, the party has dropped the sitting MLA Neeraj Zimba, a two-time winner from Darjeeling who had originally been elected on a BJP ticket belonging to the GNLF.
Mr Ghosh added that planters are trying hard to introduce the online payment system among workers and other staff members so as to avoid carrying cash to remote garden areas.
According to him, the Trinamul Congress has formed its organisation in Manipur and Tripura, but that almost all TMC members joined the BJP in the two states later.
According to Mr Pramanik, Ms Chatterjee “categorically spoke for segregating North Bengal from the state of West Bengal and showed hatred, contempt and disaffection towards the existing lawfully elected government of West Bengal.”
While a section of people associated with different organisations and political platforms have indirectly supported Alipurduar MP John Barla’s demand of a separate North Bengal state or Union Territory for this region on the issue of deprivation as well as lack of national security in the region, several other groups have decided to oppose the demand.
According to Mr Barla, seven BJP MPs from North Bengal will raise the issue in Delhi, talk to the central government and meet West Bengal Governor and others, including the President of India on this matter.
According to reliable sources, the TMC, keeping an eye on the next Parliamentary elections, has planned to ready its organisation so that it can regain the lost Lok Sabha seats by inducting MLAs and MPs from the BJP fold.
Yet another popular tea plantation, Jungpana, also has a story behind it.
The Trinamul Congress-led state government had, on the other hand, hiked the wages and started paying Rs 202 a dayan increase from Rs 67 a day in the last 10 years.
This time around, the constituency is set to witness an interesting battle between CPI-M heavyweight Asok Bhattacharya and his former “disciple” Shankar Ghosh, a BJP candidate, when people vote for them in the fifth phase of the elections here on 17 April.
Moreover, when a section of political observers here has been calculating the fate of the Trinamul Congress as well as another Morcha leader Bimal Gurung (minus the BJP), after the state decided to withdraw cases against him, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, who led the ‘parivartan yatra’ in Kalimpong today, said “people’s love for the BJP and hate for the TMC was palpable, wherever we are going.”
“All those who believe in our democracy, our constitution and a bright future for Bengal have come to realize that TMC has now gone on to become a one-family enterprise. TMC is today synonymous with corruption, nepotism, syndicate raj, cut money, dictatorship and atrocities against common citizens,” Mr Bista, who is also the Darjeeling MP, said.
According to Bharati Tamang, even the people in Darjeeling are not happy with the present developments.
He also claimed that Miss Banerjee had “pushed” the state under massive debt to the tune of over Rs 4.75 Lakh crore in the past nine years and that she had failed to attract business and investment.
Notably, the Tibetan Youth Congress and the Tibetan Women Organization jointly took out a rally in Darjeeling, appealing people to boycott Chinese products.
