The misty cool weather and the breathtaking mountainsides carpeted by tea gardens are no indicator of the political climate of these hills. As the heat and election fervour rise across India, the politics in Darjeeling is no different. This man, a young Gorkha was given the ticket pretty late as there was confusion over whether the BJP would field him or former foreign secretary Harshvardhan Shringla from this seat. Eventually, his margin of four lakh votes last time and his grip over regional satraps in the area worked for him. He now has the support of major parties in the hills like the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and GNLF or Gorkha National Liberation Front, parties that propagate the idea of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
