Darjeeling academic is ‘Hills-plains consensus’

KOLKATA/DARJEELING: CM Mamata Banerjee and the Binay Tamang-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s search for the ideal ‘jote’ candidate — one who is widely accepted in the hills and also has a foothold in the plains — ended on Tuesday with Amar Singh Rai, ex-vice principal of Darjeeling’s Loreto College and the sitting GJM MLA from the hill district.
The choice had to be unanimous for the Hill outfit — which was aligned with the BJP for the past 10 years—and was now aligning with a major party from the plains after 15 years.So on Tuesday, when the chief minister announced Rai’s name, the “son of the soil” was hailed as the right choice as a consensus candidate. Significantly, he will contest on a Trinamool ticket.
What tilted the scale in his favour — apart from the fact that his wife Kumkum hails from the plains (Rai’s schooling was in Kolkata) and his father served in the Army—was Rai’s acceptability while heading the Darjeeling Municipality between 2011 and 2016.
Banerjee herself drove home the point. “I am very happy to announce that Rai will be the joint candidate of AITC-GJM in Darjeeling hills. I am happy for my Hills brothers and sisters. Not only is he a distinct academic and a politician, he also has another identity. His wife is a Bengali. His candidature is a perfect blend of the Hills and plains,” she said.
Tamang, too, expressed his confidence about the jote in Kolkata. “His acceptability to all will be his USP,” he said. The party has called a central committee meeting along with all frontal outfits at Jogighat in Kurseong to chalk out their strategy but it has been decided that both parties will jointly canvass in the hills. This move, sources said, was being interpreted as the largest faction’s bid to force the hand of other groups before their March 15 meeting.
Ironically, it is the use of TMC symbol though that has kept a section of the Tamang faction of the GJM worried. The Tamang-led GJM has also moved the high court to remove the names of former GJM president Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri from the party after these were found to be recorded with the Election Commission still.
As a result, Tamang’s GJM is unable to use the party symbol registered with the poll panel. Justice Debangsu Basak on Monday directed the panel to address the issue and pass a reasoned order within two weeks, leaving little time for campaigning as the constituency goes to polls on April 18.
However, Hills party activists are keeping their fingers crossed. “The Lok Sabha elections will be an acid test for Binay Tamang, who was termed a betrayer by Hills people at one point of time. Every party in the hills have their own ideology and their own plans. It is unlikely we can arrive at a consensus candidate,” an influential GJM leader said.
Both GNLF’ leader Neeraj Zimba and CPRM central committee member Arun Ghatani has criticized the move calling Tamang’s GJM, “Trinamool’s second team”. “It was open secret. With this announcement, everything is in the open,” said Zimba.
While the CPRM has announced RB Rai as nominee, other players like GNLF and JAP want to wait till March 15. The GNLF has been insisting on fielding a consensus “apolitical” candidate and the names of two educationists – Mahendra P Lama and Manish Tamang – are doing the rounds.