Trinamul Congress candidate from Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat Nirmal Roy today filed his nomination papers.

A confident Prof Roy, speaking to reporters, said he has completed his first round of campaigning in almost all seven segments of Jalpaiguri parliamentary constituency.

Mr Roy also said, “We would cover every corner of all seven segments three times more before 19 April. I don’t care about opponents but I have already won the match.”

“We are facing continuous deprivation from the BJP-led Centre. We have been deprived of our constitutional rights for a long time now. Moreover, the draconian law of CAA has panicked us. We are already the citizens of Bengal. What is the need of citizenship again then? I will be blessed to be the people’s voice in the Parliament,” Mr Roy said before filing his nomination.

Mr Roy’s road show was accompanied by a huge crowd which played a range of musical instruments and sported colourful balloons.

Significantly, Siliguri Mayor Goutam Deb, the former MLA from Dabgram Fulbari, a BJP dominated segment, has taken initiative to recover the deficit recorded in 2019.

Mr Deb has campaigned for TMC candidate Mr Roy and formulated strategies to beat the BJP in the polls.

Notably, a portion of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) is under Jalpaiguri Parliamentary segment. Mr Deb is working hard to take them into confidence.

TMC candidate Nirmal Roy, who was elected as an MLA from Dhupguri Assembly bypoll recently, has been nominated by the party to contest Lok Sabha polls.

It may be noted that the BJP has not yet announced its candidate for Jalpaiguri LS seat.

Sources said the BJP may announce candidate’s name tomorrow.

It may be noted that Dr Jayanta Roy, who was associated with the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, after the state government accepted his resignation.

But Dr Roy secured 7,60,145 votes that was 50.63 per cent on polled votes while the outgoing MP Bijoy Chandra Barman on TMC ticket obtained 5,76, 141 votes.

The Jalpaiguri LS seat was under control of the Congress till 1971. But in 1977 an Independent candidate was elected from that seat in 1977. After that since 1980 to 2009, the Jalpaiguri was under the control of the CPM. In 2014, TMC candidate Bijoy Chandra Barman was elected from Jalpaiguri. But in 2019, the BJP bagged the seat by winning with a record margin.