West Bengal Phase 5: Uphill for BJP with Gorkhas, TMC together in hills; slippery for incumbents on plains

While in 2016, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) defeated the TMC in Darjeeling and Kurseong with a high winning margin of over 20 per cent, this time Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong are closely looked at as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Bimal Gurung, a champion of a separate statehood of Gorkhaland, has pledged support to the TMC.

West Bengal is set to vote for the highest number of seats 45 in a single phase Saturday, among which chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress secured the winner or runner-up positions in the last assembly elections, barring one constituency of Kalimpong.