West Bengal Assembly election 2021, Matigara-Naxalbari profile: Congress' Sankar Malakar seeks third term

The Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency of Matigara-Naxalbari (SC) is located in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It falls under the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency. It came into existence as a legislative assembly constituency of West Bengal in 2008 after the implementation of the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India. The constituency has 2,09,081 electors and covers the areas of Naxalbari community development block; and Patharghata, Atharakhai, Matigara-I, Matigara-II and Champasari (excluding Sivoke Forest, Sivoke Hill Forest and Sitong Forest) gram panchayats of Matigara community development block. Past election results and winners In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Sankar Malakar of Congress secured 86,441 votes to defeat his nearest rival Amar Sinha of Trinamool Congress. He also won in the 2011 elections. Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung exited the NDA and announced support Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, forcing the BJP to work on its strategy for north Bengal, where Matigara-Naxalbari is a constituency where GJM and Gorkha votes hold sway. The Matigara-Naxalbari assembly constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates, is home to a total of 2,22,997 eligible voters, out of whom 1,13,581 are men and 1,09,415 are women. The Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly constituency is expected to go to polls in April or May 2021, as part of the West Bengal Assembly election 2021. The West Bengal Assembly polls will be held to elect a total of 294 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).