People
One seat, many lives
Tea-garden villages, hill towns, foothill farms and the trading city of Siliguri — each with very different needs.
18th Lok Sabha · Parliament of India
Raju Bista
Member of Parliament — Darjeeling · Bharatiya Janata Party
Representing the hills, the Terai and the plains of Darjeeling in the Lok Sabha since 2019. This site is a public record of that work — what was asked in Parliament, what was sanctioned for the constituency, and how to reach the office.
01 / 06
Constituency
DarjeelingWest Bengal
Term
SecondSince 2024
2024 result
6,79,331Votes polled
Margin
+1,78,525Over runner-up
₹63,332crore
Sanctioned for development projects across the constituency
1,16,975
Homes sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
2,849km
Rural roads completed under PMGSY across three districts
700+
Har Ghar Jal projects sanctioned for the constituency
Sanctioned outlays are central and state government allocations, not personal expenditure. Where a scheme's town or district allocations form part of a larger central assistance figure, they are counted once. The parliamentary record appears in full further down this page. How these figures are compiled
From leadershipTo public service
01Beyond the office
From a village in Manipur to the Darjeeling seat
His father taught at the village school. As a boy he helped his mother run a vegetable shop.
He joined the Surya Foundation in 1999 and was later entrusted with its Ideal Village Project across the North East — the work that first brought him to the Darjeeling hills. In 2019 he contested his first election and won by 4,13,443 votes, the largest margin in West Bengal that year.
Member of Parliament, Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency
One constituency holds both the Terai plains and the high Himalayan hills. What a road, a water line or a hospital means changes every few kilometres.
Darjeeling parliamentary constituency · seven assembly segments
02The constituency
Darjeeling
Darjeeling · Kalimpong · parts of Uttar Dinajpur — seven assembly segments, from the Terai plains to the Himalayan ridge.
Challenges
What is still hard
A single vulnerable road to the hills, land title still pending in the gardens, and weather that tests every slope.
Work
What is under way
53 projects on the record — highways, the Sevoke–Rangpo railway, water schemes and new medical colleges.
Future
Where this is going
Connectivity completed, land rights settled, and an economy that keeps its young people at home.
ChopraPhansidewaSiliguriMatigara-NaxalbariKalimpongKurseongDarjeeling
03Work on the ground
Work that matters
From a national expressway to a village water connection. Every figure below is a sanctioned or announced outlay drawn from the constituency development statement — central and state allocation, not personal expenditure.
Roads & highways · Sanctioned
₹32,000 crore
Darjeeling–Siliguri–Gorakhpur Expressway
Land acquisition process under way for the expressway corridor.
Constituency-wide
Roads & highways
₹41,763crore
- Darjeeling–Siliguri–Gorakhpur Expressway₹32,000 cr · land acquisition begun
- Siliguri Ring Road₹3,500 cr · approved
- NH-717A to Kalimpong and Sikkim₹2,408 cr · under construction
8 projects with an announced figure, and 3 more under way
Railways
₹13,678crore
- Sevoke–Rangpo rail line₹12,132 cr · under construction
- New Jalpaiguri–Siliguri doubling₹916.18 cr · approved
- NJP station modernisation₹500 cr · begun
Plus the Siliguri diesel loco shed expansion, ₹129.41 cr
Water & urban development
₹3,658crore
- AMRUT 2.0 central assistanceSecured for the region
- Har Ghar JalOver 700 projects sanctioned
- Town allocationsDarjeeling, Kalimpong, Mirik, Kurseong, Siliguri
284 projects in Darjeeling and 146 in Kalimpong sanctioned
Air connectivity
₹3,000crore
- Bagdogra Airport modernisationWork under way
- New terminal buildingWith modern passenger facilities
- CapacityA large expansion for North Bengal
The single airport serving the hills, the Terai and Sikkim
Housing
₹707.28crore
- PMAY-Urban32,767 homes sanctioned
- PMAY-Gramin84,208 homes sanctioned
- CoverageDarjeeling, Kalimpong, North Dinajpur
1,16,975 homes across both schemes
Health
₹361crore
- North Bengal Medical College₹150 cr upgradation approved
- Kalimpong Medical CollegeEstablishment approved
- ESIC Medical College, DarjeelingEstablishment approved
About ₹211 cr allocated by the Centre for health facilities
Rural roads · PMGSY
₹159.1crore
- Roads completed2,849.44 km across three districts
- PMGSY-III50 new roads approved
- Recent sanction25 further rural road projects
North Dinajpur 1,514.37 km · Darjeeling 842.45 km · Kalimpong 492.62 km
Relief & rehabilitation
₹5.20crore
- Prime Minister's National Relief Fund229 families, ₹5.08 cr
- Teesta glacial lake floodHomes built for affected families
- Pedikhola landslide₹1 lakh each to 12 families
Relief material, food and immediate assistance during disasters
Beyond the ledger
Work that carries no rupee figure, and matters just as much.
Digital & communications
Optical fibre extended across Kalimpong, the BSNL network taken to the border areas, and 41 villages surveyed to reach places still without connectivity. All India Radio Kurseong has been developed as India's principal centre for Nepali-language programming.
Livelihoods & women
493 self-help groups formed — 271 in Darjeeling and 222 in Kalimpong. Hundreds of micro-enterprises supported, thousands of bank-linked loans arranged, and identity cards and certificates issued to street vendors.
Trains now running
Vande Bharat services on the New Jalpaiguri–Howrah, New Jalpaiguri–Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri–Patna routes. Vistadome coaches on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. India's first Vande Bharat sleeper is to run through the region, and a Delhi–Lucknow–Siliguri bullet train corridor has been announced.
Youth & the gardens
An initiative towards the recruitment of more than 1,000 Gorkha young people into the security forces and police services, alongside sustained effort to see government schemes properly implemented in the tea garden and cinchona garden areas.
Figures are sanctioned or announced outlays compiled from the constituency development statement issued by the office of the Member of Parliament. Where a scheme's district or town allocations form part of a larger central assistance figure, they are shown as a breakdown and counted once. Sectoral shares are calculated on the projects for which a figure has been announced.
From DarjeelingTo Parliament
04Work in Parliament
The parliamentary record
Attendance
90%
National average85%
West Bengal average68%
Debates
37
National average21.4
West Bengal average12.5
Questions asked
150
National average116
West Bengal average65
Private Member's Bills
2
National average0.4
West Bengal average0.1
Raised in the House
Parja Patta land rights for residents of tea gardens, and implementation of the new labour codes for the revival of the tea industry in West Bengal
Tea industry18th Lok Sabha · Updated 7 August 2026. Independently compiled by PRS Legislative Research from Lok Sabha proceedings. Figures update as sessions conclude.
Source: PRS Legislative Research — 18th Lok Sabha
05In the House
Issues that matter
Subjects on which the Member has repeatedly intervened in the Lok Sabha. Each connects to the parliamentary record.
06The vision
The road ahead
Finish the connectivity spine
The hills are held back by a single vulnerable road. Completing NH-717A, the Coronation Bridge replacement and the Balason–Sevoke elevated highway would give Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim a second and third way through — so that one landslide no longer cuts off a region.
Basis: four highway projects already sanctioned or under way.Bring the railway to the hills
Sevoke–Rangpo will put a modern railhead where there has never been one. Alongside it, the modernisation of NJP and the protection of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as a working heritage line, not a museum piece.
Basis: Sevoke–Rangpo and NJP modernisation both under way.Land rights for garden communities
Families have lived and worked in the tea and cinchona gardens for generations without title to the land beneath their homes. Parja Patta rights, and labour protections that let the tea industry recover, remain the single most raised matter from this constituency in the House.
Basis: raised in the House as a matter of urgent public importance.Health care that does not require a journey
Two new medical colleges — at Kalimpong and the ESIC college at Darjeeling — plus the upgraded North Bengal Medical College, should mean serious treatment stops meaning a long descent to the plains.
Basis: three medical college projects approved.07The media room
From Parliament to the people
Speeches, parliamentary moments and life in the constituency — the public record as it moves.
Parja Patta land rights for tea garden families raised in the House
Raised as a matter of urgent public importance in the Lok Sabha: land title for families who have lived and worked in the tea gardens for generations, and implementation of the new labour codes for the revival of the tea industry in West Bengal.
Read the speech
A tea garden visit
View gallery →
At a public meeting
View gallery →
With residents of the hills
View gallery →
Parliament House, New Delhi
View gallery →
The journey
1986Born in Charhajare, Manipur1999Joins the Surya Foundation2003Leads the Ideal Village Project2019Elected to the 17th Lok Sabha2021National General Secretary, BJYM2024Re-elected to the 18th Lok Sabha
Explore the journey
Speeches, videos, press coverage, photographs and every update — in one place.
Explore the media centre08A second responsibility
Leadership beyond Parliament
Public leadership
Member of Parliament, Darjeeling
Bharatiya Janata Party · 18th Lok Sabha · serving a second term since 2024.
Corporate leadership
Managing Director, Surya Roshni Limited
A responsibility in industry, held alongside public office and disclosed in full. The two roles are kept distinct across this site.
Source: Surya Roshni Limited09Citizen connect
Your voice matters
Residents of the Darjeeling constituency can write to the office directly. Please include your location so the matter can be routed correctly.
Office of the Member of Parliament · The Matterhorn, 9 Hermitage Road, Darjeeling 734101, West Bengal