BJP names its Darjeeling candidate; replaces Union minister SS Ahluwalia

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday named

Raju Singh

Bisht as its candidate from Darjeeling seat for the

Lok Sabha

polls in place of sitting MP and Union minister SS Ahluwalia.


In a statement, the party said it has also received support from two local organisations, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Gorkha Liberation Front.

Leaders of the two Gorkha outfits met BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is in-charge of the saffron party's affairs in West Bengal, here, it said, describing Bisht as a

young party

leader.

West Bengal

chief minister Mamata Banerjee has managed to win over a section of the Gorkha leadership and has been making a determined bid to wrest the seat from the BJP.

The BJP has been winning the seat with support from these Gorkha parties.

Its leader Jaswant Singh had won from there in 2009 and Ahluwalia in 2014.