BJP to shun lone Sikkim MPat Centre?

SNS, Gangtok, May 19 : If Sikkim BJP unit’s castigation of MP-elect PD Rai is any indicator, the state’s lone envoy to the Centre will become a non-entity for the BJP government there. 

With the saffron party securing an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, small forces like the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) are poised to be reduced to ‘small fries.’ 

Days after Mr Rai of the SDF reiterated his party’s alignment with the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, the state BJP Lok Sabha candidate, Nar Bahadur Khatiwada, today said his party will not entertain Rai’s support in the Modi government. 

“We will not let someone who challenged the BJP in Sikkim ally with the same party at the Centre,” he said, slamming Rai’s statements. 

Traditionally, the lone MP from the state aligns with whichever party comes into power at the centre. 

In the past, the SDF joined hands with both the Atal Behari Vaypayee-led NDA and the Manmohan Singh’s UPA 1 & 2 governments at the centre. Opposing Mr Rai’s intentions, MR Khatiwada said his party will never allow him to align with the BJP. 

He also congratulated both the SDF and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) for having bagged 22 and 10 seats respectively in the Assembly elections.