Raju Singh becomes LS candidates for BJP from Darjeeling

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 S S 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 hilly 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.