Hamro Sikkim Party forms alliance with Sikkim Republican Party

SUJAL PRADHAN and DICHEN ONGMU, EOI, GANGTOK, JANUARY 4, 2023: In a major political development, ace footballer Bhaichung Bhutia-led Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) on Wednesday formed an alliance with the K B Rai-led Sikkim Republican Party to take on the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections due next year .

The two parties also announced a three-point Common Minimum Programme (CMP), which included implementation of Inner Line Permit in Sikkim, restoration of old Nepali seats in the state assembly and preservation and protection of Article 371F. 

Addressing a joint press conference Bhutia and Rai asserted that the people of the Himalayan state wanted the two parties to join forces and fight the next assembly polls together. 

They asserted that Sikkimese people were looking up to them as an alternative to the ruling SSKM which has "failed to deliver its promises made during the 2019 assembly polls and has been inclined to hold on to power just for the sake of it without doing anything worthwhile for the people of the state". 

Bhutia said Sikkim needed apolitical coalition that would raise voice to secure, protect and preserve the rights of the people.

"We need leaders who will speak in the assembly and Parliament without fear or obligations. We need strong leaders and political parties to implement the three-point agenda we have raised today," he said.

The HSP president said that in the coming days, both parties will fight for the three-point CMP from a common platform. "Younger generations must understand the provisions in Article 371F," Bhutia said.

He said seat reservation for Nepali-speaking people was in place in Sikkim Assembly till 1979, and this was not a new demand but its restoration would require political will.

Bhutia said Sikkim is a border state and "national security could be at stake" if ILP was not implemented.