"Just a drama...," Raju Bista after BJP's Kurseong sitting MLA filed his nomination for Darjeeling LS seat as independent candidate

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], March 31 (ANI): After the BJP's Kurseong sitting MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma filed his nomination for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from the Darjeeling constituency of West Bengal, Raju Bista Raju Bista termed it a "drama" and said that if he wants to contest Lok Sabha elections, he should "resign first."
On Saturday, BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma filed his nomination for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate.
"He is a sitting MLA of the BJP, if he wants to contest (Lok Sabha), he has to resign first. I think this is just a drama, if he resigns in real and comes as a candidate, then only I will comment," Bista told ANI on Sunday.
After being chosen as the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from the Darjeeling constituency of West Bengal, Bista on March 25 said that the speciality of the BJP is its commitment to providing opportunities based on individuals' potential.
Bista said that development works worth over Rs 50,000 crore are going on under the leadership of PM Modi in Darjeeling.
"I am grateful to PM Modi, HM Amit Shah, party's president JP Nadda and party's general secretary, BL Santosh for giving me the opportunity for the second time. This is the speciality of our party that we don't have to worry about ourselves, the party after evaluating the potential of the people provides the opportunity," he said.
He also mentioned that his priority will be to ensure that the ongoing work is completed at a fast pace.
Earlier, the BJP announced the names of 111 candidates in its fifth list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, including a woman who was a survivor of violence in the Sandeshkhali area of West Bengal.
BJP released the list of 19 candidates for Bengal. BJP has fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat, who is a resident of Sandeshkhali. It was she who first raised the voice of the women of Sandeshkhali and all three accused expelled TMC MLA Sheikh Shahjahan, Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar are behind bars.
The Lok Sabha elections in 42 Parliamentary Constituencies of West Bengal are scheduled to take place in seven phases, which will start on April 19 and conclude on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 22 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 18 out of the 42 parliamentary seats in the state. The Indian National Congress (INC) was limited to only two seats. (ANI)