GANGTOK, : SDF president Pawan Chamling has disclosed that his much-talked about
meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier this year was
to protect Sikkim State from being merged with Darjeeling region.
There
are talks about Sikkim being merged with Darjeeling and we must be clear on one
thing…if the Centre wants, this (merger) can happen in a single day by implementing
Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, said Chamling on Tuesday during the 33rd
SDF Day programme here.
Article
3 of the Constitution of India gives Parliament the power to create new States
and change the boundaries, names, and sizes of existing States.
Chamling
pointed out that the erstwhile Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh in
1954 through Article 3 by the Union government. Besides Bilaspur, the hilly
regions of Punjab were also merged with Himachal Pradesh, he said.
Given
this history, the Centre can implement Article 3 through the Parliament to
merge Sikkim and Darjeeling any time it wants and once that happens, nobody
from Sikkim would become the Chief Minister, said Chamling.
The
former Chief Minister said the SDF has always been openly opposing any such
merger move. Hence, I went and met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
and talked with her on this, he said.
Chamling
had met Mamata at Nabanna State Secretariat, Kolkata on January 14 earlier this
year.
“Mamata
is a well-wisher of Sikkim and one of the strongest leaders of India, known for
her strong stand and uncompromising nature. She has good wishes for Sikkim and
hence I met her and she has assured to support us. I met
Mamata to save Sikkim,” said Chamling.
During
the Kolkata meeting, Mamata had described it as a “political and courtesy
meeting”.
“It
was a political and courtesy meeting during which Pawan Chamling graciously
extended an invitation to visit Sikkim, emphasising the potential for
collaboration and working together on shared goals," she added.
