Golay's board promise

RAJEEV RAVIDAS,  TT, 15 Dec 2018, Gangtok: The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha president, P. S. Golay on Friday vowed to set up development boards for all communities in Sikkim if his party comes to power in the coming Assembly elections.

Addressing party supporters at a mass joining programme in Jorethang, about 80km from here, the SKM president said the boards would enable respective communities to carry out development activities on their own.

"I would like to declare that once our party forms the government, we will set up development boards for all communities," he said.

Golay didn't say so much, but his decision appears to have been inspired by Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of neighbouring Bengal, who has set up several development boards for the hill communities in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

While critics had accused Banerjee of using development boards to bring about division in the larger Gorkha community to challenge the hegemony of the undivided Gorkha Janmukti Morcha at a time when all were united in their support for its president Bimal Gurung, Golay's motive appears to be to woo cross-section of the Sikkimese people in the lead up to the elections.

Analysts said that the Golay is conscious that a lot of Nepali-speaking Sikkimese is unhappy over the failure of his rival and Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling to secure Scheduled Tribe status to 11 left out communities, and he wants to cash in on the disenchantment.

"The tribal status failure coupled with Chamling's inability to secure seat reservation for the Limbus and Tamangs in the Assembly are expected to have a bearing in the elections, and Golay is aware of this," said an analyst.

The SKM president mentioned both the issues during the course of the speech.

"Chamling had said that if the Limbu-Tamang seats do not happen before 2019, he would quit politics. Chamling, please be prepared to quit because the seats are not happening before 2019," he said.

SKM is the main opposition party to the ruling Sikkim Democratic Party (SDF), of which Chamling is the president. The party had won 10 seats to the SDF's 22 in the last Assembly elections in 2014.

Golay also made some other promises, including teaching of different languages from the primary level up to college, home posting for teachers and non-gazetted officials and an increase in the salaries of teachers, health officials and police officials.

Earlier, Golay welcomed 393 new entrants to his party. They include B. S. Panth, who had quit the SDF in October.