West Bengal Assembly election 2021, Siliguri profile: TMC looks to woo non-Bengali population in CPM stronghold

The Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency of Siliguri is located in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It falls under the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency has 1,84,303 electors, 245 polling booths and covers ward numbers 1 to 30 and 45 to 47 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Past election results and winners In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Ashok Bhattacharya of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won from the Siliguri Assembly seat. In 2011, Rudranath Bhattacharya of Trinamool Congress defeated Bhattacharya by a margin of 5,006 votes. It was an important win for the TMC because Siliguri had been with the CPM since 1977. The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly polls in Siliguri was 80.79 percent. Siliguri Assembly constituency, an important seat owing to its location, is one that TMC could win only once in 2011. Even in local body polls, TMC could win only Mirik Municipality while the Left won back-to-back elections of local bodies in Siliguri sub-division in 2015. The constituency has a non-Bengali population of more than 20 percent. The Siliguri 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).