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Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung on Thursday stated he was confident of that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate SS Ahluwalia backed by his party will win hands down.
"We have voted for our future. The result will be good and the BJP candidate will win even more than one lakh fifty thousand votes. Baichung Bhutia doesn't even have any polling agent of his own. I am not fighting for any personal interest, while Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Baichung Bhutia and Independent candidate Mahendra P Lama are fighting for personal interest. We are hopeful of a win with a huge majority," Gurung said.
"What Mamata Banerjee says does not matter. Even the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and resigned in protest against his states division but still Telangana was created, hence, it doesn't matter if the West Bengal chief minister opposes creation of Gorkhaland. UPA has shown the path that a new state can be created even after the states opposition," Gurung added.
Darjeeling seat is one amongst the four Lok Sabha constituencies in North Bengal that is voting today in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections. The tussle for this seat is between football star, Baichung Bhutia who is contesting from this seat on a Trinamool Congress ticket and GJM backed BJP candidate SS Ahluwalia. Mahendra P Lama is also in the fray for this seat contesting as an independent candidate.
TMC's Baichung Bhutia has got a shot in the arm with Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) a hill party which used to be a major force in Darjeeling before being dethroned by the GJM has backed him.
The Darjeeling seat is currently represented by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh who is contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as an Independent candidate in Rajasthan's Barmer constituency. The GJM had supported Jaswant Singh in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as well.
