SKM seeks Prez rule during Sikkim polls

SNS, Gangtok, 6 February 2014: The Opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) yesterday submitted a memorandum to the Director General of the Election Commission (EC) of India, demanding President's Rule in the state during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

In a meeting of all political parties at the Election Department at Baulkhani held here last evening, the party also alleged misuse of the government machineries by the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) in the past elections and said it misused and tampered with the electronic voting machines (EVM) too.

The EC director general, Mr Ashis Shrivastava, and EC secretary, Mr SK Rudola convened the meeting to involve the political parties to ensure free and fair Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state scheduled to be held in April-May.

SKM secretary general, M K Subba, vice-president, TN Dhakal, secretary general (women wing) Pavitra Bhandari and secretary general (law and order) Sonam Lachenpa represented the Opposition party in the meeting.

“Given past records and experiences, we have seen that no free and fair elections have taken place in Sikkim in the last three Assembly elections and the Parliamentary election in 1996,” the SKM’s three-page memorandum reads.

The memorandum also demands that IG, Law and Order, Akshay Sachdeva, be freed from any election duty, considering the pending case against him in the Supreme Court regarding his alleged involvement in provoking police to lathi-charge SKM supporters.

“He should not only be appointed as the Nodal Officer, but also be removed from the present posting as the IG (Law & Order) and kept away from any election related duties,” the memorandum reads.

The SKM also accused the incumbent government of hosting the ‘Janta mela’ just before the elections to woo voters.

“In the mela, only half of the schemes are being distributed on purpose, while the government said the schemes will be carried over to the next financial year, provided the beneficiaries vote for the ruling SDF Party,” the SKM alleged.

In the memorandum, SKM further accuses SDF of ‘openly involving’ government officials, including BDOs, DCs, SPs and the state Election Commissioner, in poll campaigning for the party.

SKM also demanded that Sikkim’s voter list be revised at the earliest so that genuine votes are not deprived of their rights to franchise.