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Lok Sabha election 2019: Police fire tear gas shells, baton charge agitators in Darjeeling
Known for its tea and Unesco World Heritage site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Darjeeling is voting on Thursday in the second of the seven-phased Lok Sabha election 2019.
Security personnel on Thursday fired tear gas shells and baton charged agitators, who accused workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress of obstructing them from casting their vote, at Chopra under Darjeeling constituency, where the second phase of polling in the Lok Sabha election is underway.
Agitators, who were blocking National Highway 31, also hurled crude bombs at the personnel of the local police and Rapid Action Force, officials said.
Known for its tea and Unesco World Heritage site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Darjeeling is voting on Thursday in the second of the seven-phased Lok Sabha election 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held Darjeeling, one of the 42 Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, for the last two terms. The BJP had won the Darjeeling seat in 2009 and 2014 with the support of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
Raju Bista, entrepreneur and managing director of a private company, is fighting from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, which comprises the hill towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong as well as the plains of Siliguri, has a sizeable Gorkha population.
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The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and a faction of GJM, the major local outfits that have carried out movements demanding a separate state Gorkhaland, offered support to Bista.
Amar Singh Rai, who is MLA from GJM from Darjeeling assembly seat, is contesting on a Trinamool ticket.
The votes will be counted on May 23.
