BJP taps local buzz for SMC - Party to release forms for candidates keen to fight civic polls, BJP Civic Poll Candidates, civic polls,Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections
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- Category: West Bengal Latest Election News and Updates
- Last Updated: Saturday, 21 February 2015 11:13
BJP taps local buzz for SMC - Party to release forms for candidates keen to fight civic polls
Siliguri, Feb. 16: The Darjeeling district BJP has decided to distribute application forms from next week among those keen to contest the approaching Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections to cash in on the rising buzz around the party since the Lok Sabha polls.
"From next week and onwards, we will start distributing applications among people in all 47 wards of Siliguri as many of them have expressed interest to contest as BJP candidates in the upcoming civic polls," said Rathindra Bose, the Siliguri (organisation) district president of the BJP.
"These people, who are from different walks of life, would be asked to fill the application forms and submit those to us. We will then scrutinise and finalise the candidate list for the civic polls."
BJP sources said the party, which had secured a lead in over 20 of the 47 SMC ward areas in the 2014 general elections, had taken up the exercise to assess its support base and also prepare a database comprising details of prospective candidates.
"As our district president has said, several people are approaching us and are interested to file nominations as our candidates at the SMC polls that are likely to be held in April. The party has thus decided to carry out this exercise, instead of finalising names of candidates on its own," a party insider said.
This is the first time such an exercise has been taken up by any political party in Siliguri. "It is indeed a new exercise which the BJP intends to take up. The party is brimming with confidence, particularly after securing the highest number of votes in the Siliguri Assembly segment of the Darjeeling Parliament seat in the last Lok Sabha polls.
If this exercise is seriously conducted and candidates are selected on the basis of certain parameters, some of which have been articulated by the district leaders, it would definitely help in fielding impressive candidates in most of the seats," a political observer said.