Darjeeling Lok Sabha polls:

Darjeeling Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency number: 4

Total Electors: 14,37,126

Male Electors: 7,37,184

Female Electors: 6,99,942

Assembly Constituencies: Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Matigara-Naxalbari (SC), Siliguri, Phansidewa (ST), Chopra

Reserved: No

Delimitation: Matigara-Naxalbari (SC) Vidhan Sabha constituency created within Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency. On the other hand, Islampur seat went to Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency.

Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: In the 1999 elections, SP Lepcha of the CPM won the seat. In 2004, CPM lost the seat to Congress’ Dawa Narbula. Since 2009 polls, the seat has been with the BJP. While former external affairs and finance minister Jaswant Singh won the seat in 2009 elections, Union Minister SS Ahluwalia won the seat in the 2014 elections.

Demographics: Famed for its tea gardens and tourist avenues, Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency is starkly divided into hilly and plain areas. While the Gorkhas are dominant in the three hilly Assembly segments, the plains in Siliguri division have a plurality of Bengali voters as well as Hindi-speaking Marwari traders. In fact, Chopra constituency in Uttar Dinajpur district has a substantial Muslim population too.