"Electoral headwinds in BJP's favour": Kiren Rijiju campaigns in Darjeeling, flays Rahul over 'redistribution' pitch

Darjeeling (West Bengal) [India], April 23 : Claiming that the political headwinds and public mood were in favour of the BJP going into the second phase of polling for the Lok Sabha in Bengal, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday exuded confidence that his party will retain the Darjeeling constituency by a comfortable margin.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday on the sidelines of campaigning for sitting BJP MP Raju Bista, who is seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Darjeeling this year, Rijiju said, "I am here to campaign for our candidate in Darjeeling today. I can say with absolute confidence and conviction that the BJP will retain this constituency. Not just here in North Bengal but elsewhere in the state, too, the political headwinds are in favour of the BJP just as they are across the country."
On the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's alleged poll commitment to redistribute the country's wealth, if elected, the Union Minister, who is also seeking a fresh term in the Lower House from Arunachal Pradesh West constituency, said, "He (Rahul) doesn't know what he saying. He is clearly not cut out for politics. It's better that he quits politics altogether."
Between sitting MP Bista and a fresh term in the Lok Sabha stands the ruling TMC's Gopal Lama.
Darjeeling has been a BJP bastion since 2009, with the TMC never managing to wrest the seat from the principal opposition party in the state.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bista won the constituency with 59.2 per cent of the total votes polled against TMC's Amar Singh Rai, who bagged a mere 26.6 per cent votes. In 2014, BJP's SS Ahluwalia, who is in fray this year from Asansol, won 42.8 per cent of votes against 25.5 per cent won by former footballer and TMC's star candidate Bhaichung Bhutia.
After polling was conducted for three North Bengal seats in the opening phase, Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj are set to go to polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, Friday.
Voting for the remaining constituencies of West Bengal will be held on May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
Though still a part of the Opposition bloc--INDIA, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC chose to go it alone in Bengal and announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state from a show of strength at Brigade Parade Grounds of Kolkata earlier.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC took the lion's share of the electoral spoils in the state, at 34, while the BJP had to be content with just 2 seats. The CPI(M) and the Congress won 2 and 4 seats, respectively.
However, in a poll stunner that few saw coming, the BJP turned the tables on the ruling TMC in the 2019 polls, winning to 18 seats. The ruling party in the state saw its tally reduced to 22. The Congress fared a lowly third in the tally with just 2 seats while the Left Front was down to just a lone seat.
With Mamata's TMC facing public scrutiny after a string of arrests of its top leaders and ministers in connection with the primary teachers' recruitment scam, the alleged horrific abuse of women in Sandeshkhali and attacks on central agencies, the BJP senses a chance to emerge as the largest single party in the state in the Lok Sabha elections this year and get a stronger foothold in the state going into the 2026 Assembly elections.