The Trinamul Congress on Sunday announced a Gorkha as the candidate of the Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly segment near here, replacing a retired army officer whom the party had earlier named for the seat with a substantial number of Gorkhas.

The new nominee, Rajen Sundas, was an officer in the Bengal transport department. Retired army captain Nalini Ranjan Roy was the party’s earlier candidate.

“Rajen Sundas is a well-known face in the Terai, particularly in Siliguri and the surrounding areas. Nalini Ranjan Roy has been made the chairman of the constituency-level committee formed by Trinamul to oversee the election,” said Ranjan Sarkar, the Darjeeling (plains) Trinamul district president.

The decision, Trinamul insiders said, was made by the central leadership of the party after both the factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had stressed that a Gorkha candidate could help Mamata Banerjee’s party win the seat. Trinamul has never won Matigara-Naxalbari.

“There are over 50,000 Gorkha voters in the constituency. That is why the change has been made. Rajen Sundas is the second Gorkha candidate fielded by Trinamul in the state,” said a Trinamul insider.

The other Gorkha candidate nominated by Trinamul in the Assembly polls is Passang Lama in the Kalchini seat in Alipurduar district.

In 2011, Trinamul had left the Matigara-Naxalbari seat for the Congress, whose Sankar Malakar had won the election. Malakar had retained the seat in 2016 and is the current Congress candidate also.

The BJP has fielded Anandamoy Burman in the seat.