‘Anti-Incumbency’ wave sweeping across Sikkim Democratic Party

PS Tamang a ‘Dark Horse’ within the SDF party

Gangtok, November 25: In continuance to the waves of dissidence within the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) making rounds, a close aide to Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has himself coded that the turbulence is actually being felt within the party ranks. On condition of anonymity, the party senior mentor today held Chamling’s ‘Dictatorial’ style of functioning responsible for the quandary.

Bouncing back on Chamling, he said “Power makes people corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely” following which Chamling has surfaced as “Superlatively corrupt”. Relying high on his political career since the first Chief Minster LD Kazi’s regime, the veteran politician calculated that an absolute majority in the state assembly has always proved inauspicious in Sikkim ’s power game. Citing instances on how the late Kazi and even the Bhandari regime tumbled after having secured all 32 seats, he said that the same adversity would soon creep into the SDF.

During an exclusive interview with this publication, the senior party man further said that Chamling has gradually failed to live up to the expectations of the common people. “Even those who staked their lives to oust Bhandari and establish Chamling during the 1994 elections are today either hammered or fatally attacked”. He further rapped Chamling for the failure of his government to nab the culprits, following which similar disruptive elements are enjoying free hand in the state. To top it off, he further said that Chamling failed to convince numerous government employees who were either assured promotions or pay revision as per the recommendations of the fourth pay commission formed by Chamling himself. “After having failed to do so, the financial crisis has stalled all developmental works in the state” he said.

Interestingly, the senior leader has pointed out that a strong “Anti- Incumbency factor’ is being experienced within the SDF, that too after the elections that ended just six months back. He further attributed this factor to be the root cause of dissidence within the party.

Commenting on the party’s present state of affairs, the political veteran said “Chamling has now lost his forts, a change is obviously expected”. When asked about PS Tamang’s fortune in the Sikkimese political arena, he tagged the dissident Tamang as a ‘Dark Horse’ of the SDF. “He still has a long way to go, and is Chamling’s only substitute” he said. He further assumed that Tamang being the most popular figures in the SDF could go beyond popular expectations and could change the realms of power in Sikkim
Himalayan Mirror Bureau