In an unprecedented political move, candidates belonging to the main opposition in Sikkim, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Prem Bahadur Bhandari and Daniel Rai withdrew their candidature from Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang assembly constituencies, where bpolls were to be held on November 13. During the scrutiny of nominations, both the candidates of the Citizen Action Party Sikkim were also disqualified.
This paves the way for the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) nominees Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai to win unopposed. Chief minister Prem Singh Tamang-led SKM will now have 32 MLAs in state assembly leaving the assembly oppositionless.
Sources in the election department said that CAP Sikkim had fielded Mahesh Rai from Namchi-Singhithang and Pobin Hang Subba from Soreng-Chakung constituencies. Both the candidates were “rejected due to a deficiency in the requisite number of proposers during the scrutiny process”. Pobin Hang Subba was also disqualified for “incomplete affidavit” submission.
The CAP condemned the disqualification of its candidates as a “conspiracy” stating, “This action is an assault on the essence of democracy and once again demonstrates the dictatorial tendencies of the SKM, showing their disregard for democratic values”.
“The misguided leadership of SKM has resorted to unethical and unconstitutional measures, pressuring the Election Commission of India for its own interests to exclude genuine representatives of the people from the electoral process. It is evident that out of fear of impending defeat in the Namchi-Singhithang and Soreng-Chakung constituencies, SKM has left no stone unturned to suppress the people’s voice and manipulate the democratic process,” the CAP said. The CAP declared that it is “prepared to engage in a legal battle against this chaos and will continuously strive for the rights of our people. Today stands as the darkest day for democratic Sikkim,” and called upon all Sikkimese to stand firm for democracy and to expose SKM’s authoritarian actions.
