Siliguri will vote in two phases in the general election as the city's wards are divided between Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha segments.
Right from civic elections to Lok Sabha polls, voters of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation would exercise their franchise on the same day at least in the past three decades.
Of the SMC's 47 wards, 14 are in the Jalpaiguri constituency and 33 in the Darjeeling segment.
“According to the schedule published by the Election Commission, voting for the Jalpaiguri seat will be on April 16. Polling in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat will be held on April 26. This is unique as even Calcutta will vote on a single day (June 1),” said a political observer.
The 33 wards of the SMC — they are in Darjeeling district as well — fall in the Siliguri Assembly segment. The other 14 wards which are in Jalpaiguri district and four contiguous panchayats constitute the Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly seat.
Around 30 years ago, when Siliguri was a municipality and not a corporation, several existing civic wards were in the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district.
“Those days, elections were held once or twice on different dates. But in recent years, this is the first time that residents of the civic area will vote on separate days,” said Alok Chakraborty, the chairman of the Trinamul Congress's Darjeeling (plains) district committee.
Political parties have started drawing up their campaign plans, keeping in mind the silence period or the halt in campaign 48 hours before polls.
A BJP functionary has said the city has many roads which mark the boundary of wards. These include roads which have different municipal wards on either side.
As a result, people living on one side of a road will vote on April 16 while those on the other side will exercise their franchise on April 26.
“On April 14, the campaign will halt in the 14 wards where the election will be held in the first phase (April 16). But the campaign will continue in the remaining 33 wards. We don’t know how to campaign in these ‘bordering’ areas from April 14 to 16. Our local leaders and workers have been asked to draw up campaign plans accordingly so that there is no violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC),” said the BJP leader.
The voters are clueless.
“Usually, we friends gather and chat after casting our votes. But this time, half of my friends will vote on April 16 while the rest of us will vote on April 26,” said Pradip Chakraborty, a retired government employee.
Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri and a veteran in politics, said Trinamul was focusing on the entire Siliguri subdivision and adjoining areas of Jalpaiguri. In 2019, the BJP won both the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri seats.
“We have already launched our campaign for the two candidates. Our leaders and workers have been assigned specific responsibilities to carry out the campaign effectively for the two phases,” he said.
