SINGTAM,: Chief Minister and SKM president PS Golay on Saturday held a SKM
‘Vijayee Bhava: Jan Sabha’ election campaign at Singtam bazaar covering
Khamdong-Singtam, Martam-Rumtek, Tumin-Lingee, Kabi-Lungchok, Temi-Namphing and
West Pendam constituencies.
The public
meeting was attended by SKM Lok Sabha candidate Indra Hang Subba, candidates of
the six constituencies, party functionaries and supporters.
Addressing
the gathering, the Chief Minister reiterated his confidence that the SKM is on
course for a complete sweep of all the 32 Assembly constituencies and the lone
Lok Sabha seat in this 2024 election. He added that the SKM is sincere towards
resolving the demands of Limboo-Tamang Assembly seats and tribal status for the
12 left-out communities of Sikkim in the coming government.
“The
Vijayee Bhava campaign, which started from Soreng-Chakung on April 5, has
covered almost all districts of Sikkim and will officially conclude at
Jorethang on April 15. At Jorethang, the electoral manifesto of the SKM party
will be discussed and I would request everyone to attend it, as this election
decides what type of government you want in Sikkim from 2024-2029. It is a
32/32 win for SKM, as we can see SKM, Golay’s Lahar and the Table Lamp symbol everywhere,” expressed Golay.
Speaking
on Singtam, the SKM president shared that Singtam bazaar is a historic platform
for him as it was here where he made his first public address after being
released from jail on August 10, 2018 before a massive gathering. He thanked
the people of Singtam for their constant support to the SKM party, and urged
them to strongly back party candidate NB Dahal.
“Singtam-Khamdong
candidate NB Dahal may be new to your constituency, but the SKM party decided
to give him the ticket this time keeping in mind the people of Sikkim as he is
a deserving candidate and I want you to support him by voting for Dahal,” Golay
appealed.
SDF
Singtam-Khamdong candidate Dr. MK Sharma came under strong criticism from
Golay.
Dr. Sharma
had won from Singtam-Khamdong in the 2019 election on a SKM ticket. He was
given a minister’s post in the State cabinet but later resigned as the minister
following the outrage over ‘immigrant’ tag on Sikkimese Nepali in 2023. He then
quit SKM and is now seeking a re-election from Singtam-Khamdong as the SDF
candidate.
The SKM
president maintained that Dr. Sharma, while as a Health minister, plotted and
tried to weaken the SKM government and eventually, ran away. “I had forgiven
him and did not even remove him from his post as a minister because I was
thinking about the Singtam-Khamdong janta, but all he did was to incite our
MLAs and people against us. He tried to provoke the janta against us by
bringing up the issue of immigration tag on Sikkimese Nepalis. At a time when
SDF couldn’t remove this objectionable tag in 25 years of government, SKM
government was successful in removing the tag in 27 days,” he said.
The Singtam-Khamdong
janta has seen a lot, and so it was important to bring NB Dahal as their
candidate, said Golay.
The SKM
president alleged that the SDF, during its 25 years in power, misused Sikkim as
an ‘ATM’ for the benefit of the party and family members of party president
Pawan Chamling. All the SDF is doing now is making insane promises like
holidays on birthdays of government employees and spreading violence and
propaganda, when they have already lost the match, he said.
Golay further
highlighted the different schemes and development projects of the SKM
government during their five-year tenure.
In his
address, SKM Lok Sabha candidate Indra Hang Subba stated that due to the
development works and different schemes of the SKM government, the people of
Sikkim have already decided to vote for the SKM. He alleged that SDF candidate PD
Rai, in spite of being an MP for 10 years in the past, never spoke on behalf of
Sikkim in the Parliament.
Indra Hang
is also the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Sikkim.
“The first
term, I may have been inexperienced and had to learn a lot but despite this, at
the Parliament, I have constantly spoken about different demands of Sikkim
during my term. There are 14 MP candidates this time, and they should
understand that speaking in the Parliament is not like speaking in Facebook
Live, it needs experience and rules need to be followed. I am experienced now
and if I am elected MP, I will strongly take up the issues and demands of
Sikkim in the Parliament from Day 1,” said Indra Hang.
