GANGTOK: Bharatiya Janata Party Sikkim is ‘losing faith’ in its alliance partner Sikkim Krantikari Morcha party as well as the State Government, Sikkim BJP President DB Chauhan said. In a party statement released Thursday, the BJP said “our party workers are dissatisfied. They are being pressurized by the ruling front”.
When contacted, Sikkim BJP President DB Chauhan told EastMojo, “We are losing faith in the SKM-BJP alliance within the government. Our legislators are facing secondhand treatment within their own constituencies courtesy of the ruling government. They are elected MLAs who are there to represent their constituencies.”
Chauhan claimed that the ruling SKM party was replacing the BJP legislators with their party in-charges “who are curtailing the growth of the constituency, the functioning of the legislator as well as that of the BJP in Sikkim”.
“Anyone not with SKM party is not being seen or treated as equal by the government and the ruling front,” he said.
At present, the BJP has 12 legislators in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, of whom 10 defected from Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party. Two legislators were elected in the 2019 by-election from Gangtok and Martam-Rumtek constituencies.
Even as Chauhan refused to clarify on the legislators he claimed were being replaced by “SKM party in-charges”, but added that “our BJP workers are being lured or being pressurized to join the SKM party”.
“Seeing such pressure and activities of the ruling front, there is large scale dissatisfaction among the party workers. There has been no benefit to the party from this coalition. The coalition government with the SKM has affected the BJP party workers and supporters. The party organization is not being allowed to function properly,” Chauhan said.
About the “false pretence” by the Sikkim government in front of Central leaders about the coalition, Chauhan said, “When central leaders come from outside the State, there is a false pretence by the government and the ruling front that there is coalition. They portray the coalition when they take legislators to places like Mumbai and Delhi as part of the delegation to show the central leaders. But the ground reality in Sikkim is very different. We are not seen as equal.”
On losing faith in the coalition, Chauhan said, “When the 2019 election happened and the ensuing by-election followed, we had a lot of faith in the coalition. But in due course of time, we started noticing the secondhand treatment. Steadily now, we are losing faith in the alliance. Its not losing faith in the government but more so in the coalition.”
The statement shared by the BJP also mentions how the party has been taking stock of the burning concern in the state with regard to Article 371F and the protest by two Bihar residents at Jantar Mantar.
“These outside influences are commenting on the Sikkimese identity guaranteed through Article 371F. We declare such individuals to be anti-national as well as anti-Constitution. BJP has always worked towards politics of unity of the nation. Any statement that dampens the existence of Sikkim, we shall not tolerate.”
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