The Hindu : National : SDF sweeps Sikkim Assembly polls

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Friday, May 14, 2004

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National

SDF sweeps Sikkim Assembly polls

By Marcus Dam

KOLKATA, MAY 13. "The results of the seventh Assembly polls in Sikkim are indicative of the people's disregard for and condemnation of the yellow politics of casteism, communalism and opportunism," the Sikkim Chief Minister, Pawan Kumar Chamling, said even before it was officially announced that his Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) had swept all but one of the 32 Assembly seats in the State, securing about 57 per cent of the votes polled.

The Sangha seat, reserved for Buddhist monks and nuns of Sikkim's monasteries, was bagged by the Congress. The SDF also retained the single Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim, its candidate, Nakuldas Rai defeating the Congress nominee, B. Adhikari, by more than one lakh votes.

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu over telephone from Gangtok, Mr. Chamling, who is now all set to become the Chief Minister for the third time in a row, said that "the public verdict was an affirmation of our efforts at development and a reminder that we are on the right path, politically and economically."

As for the setback suffered at the Centre by the National Democratic Alliance of which his party is a partner, Mr. Chamling said: "This was not expected but we will have to accept the verdict of the people." He was looking "forward to establishing a friendly relation with a Congress-led Government at the Centre."

My relations with the Congress Government led by Narasimha Rao and the subsequent ones with Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral as Prime Minister were always cordial," he added. "The SDF is a regional party with a nationalist outlook and whatever the composition of the government at the Centre, I shall work in the interests of the State and the country."

The landslide victory has come as no surprise to Mr. Chamling. "I was confident of a comfortable victory and the people have restored their faith in my sincerity to work for their betterment," he said. "This adds to my responsibilities and I will have to work toward maintaining this faith and hope reposed in me." He is planning to appoint a 12-member Cabinet and is "waiting for an auspicious date to take oath — any day before May 22." "There will be a new face or two in my new Government," he added.

The rout of the Congress, led by the former Chief Minister, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, underscores the dominance of the regional parties in Sikkim politics. It was also a personal humiliation for Mr. Bhandari, who lost from both the constituencies from where he contested — Central Pandam and Gangtok.

Mr. Bhandari's move to woo the Bhutia-Lepcha tribal voters by aligning with the Sikkimese Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) has not yielded the desired result, his party failing to win any of the 12 seats reserved for the two ethnic communities. Rather, it appears to have antagonised a substantial section of the upper caste Nepalis who have stood by him in the past. This is evident in the Congress failing to win a single seat in pockets of the East District considered Mr. Bhandari's strongholds. The SDF, on the other hand, has consolidated its hold on the Other Backward Classes in the Nepali community who constitute a majority of the population in the State and are the principal support-base of the party.

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