Gangtok: Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) spokesperson Jacob Khaling has alleged that the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) is hatching a conspiracy to stop a genuine Sikkimese-Nepali from becoming the chief minister of the state.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Khaling asserted that the people of Sikkim wanted PS Golay, the SKM president, to become the chief minister, but the ruling front was scheming to stop him and spreading misinformation. He alleged that this plot was not just against Golay, but against the entire Sikkimese-Nepali community of the state.
The SKM spokesperson accused CM Pawan Kumar Chamling of working against the Nepali community, and of bringing about a division among them. He added that the CM has been hatching a conspiracy to obstruct Nepali communities to get united under the leadership of PS Golay.
Further, Khaling made a serious allegation on the CM of having a hidden agenda of a Greater Nepal. He said that the SKM has raised the issue several times, and had also taken the matter to the Centre. He alleged that a few individuals from Nepal were the architect of Greater Nepal working for the CM.
The SKM spokesperson added that senior leader and SDF spokesperson KT Gyaltsen was the enemy of the Sikkimese Nepali community. He exemplified the same saying that when Gyaltsen was the tourism minister, the department had published a book on Sikkim which stated that the Sikkimese-Nepali as labourers who illegally came to Darjeeling and Sikkim in the 19th century.
Khaling condemned the circulation of an anonymous leaflet in the name of SIBLAC. He alleged that the ruling front has been doing propaganda to bring a division among the Bhutia and Lepcha communities of Sikkim.
SKM vice-president [frontal organisation] Nakul Das Rai said that many individuals and organisations from Sikkim and outside had a hand in getting the tribal status to the Limboo and Tamang (LT) communities of Sikkim. On the same, he added that SDF government should not take all credits on the grant of tribal status to LT, as many individuals and organisations had worked really hard on the matter, long before the formation of SDF. He added that even the West Bengal government supported this issue.
Rai questioned that if the ruling party claimed the credit then it should show how many times the government had written to the Centre for the tribal status. He claimed that the SDF MP was absent in Parliament when the bill was tabled in the house in 2002. He alleged that SDF MP never spoke in the parliament to provide tribal status to LT.
Likewise, SKM general secretary Puja Sharma urged the Election Commission for the proper implementation of the model code of conduct (MCC) to ensure free and fair elections in the state. She alleged that SDF workers have been found violating the MCC, claiming that a nominated Muslim councillor was caught with liquor in his vehicle on Thursday night from Lal Bazaar. She informed that in another incident on Thursday afternoon, an SKM worker Ganesh Bhattarai was attacked by two persons and a complaint was also lodged at the police station.
However, Sharma added that four women lodged a fabricated counter complaint against Bhattarai in the same police station. She claimed that the complaint was false and fabricated. On the same, she appealed to the people to carry out a free and fair investigation by not supporting any party to find the truth.
Responding to media queries on the allegations of the chief minister that SKM is run by BJP, Khaling said that SKM was clean and pure party and totally based on its principle and policy. He reminded them that SDF was a member of NEDA and not SKM. “BJP has thrown out SDF party after knowing its reality, so in the desperation the CM has been giving such statement,” he said.
