Advantage SDF

in Gangtok

THE Himalayan State of Sikkim will go to the polls on May 10 to elect a new government and a Member of Parliament. The main contest will be between the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and the Congress(I). In a State where individuals rather than parties dominate elections, it will essentially be a battle between Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and former Chief Minister and Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (I) president Nar Bahadur Bhandari.

In the last Assembly elections in 1999, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) under the leadership of Bhandari won seven seats in the 32-member House. But over the last five years all SSP legislators except Bhandari defected to the SDF. Bhandari himself joined the Congress(I), to become the lone Opposition member in the Assembly. The Congress(I), which could not win a single seat in the last elections, is back in the political race on his strength.

The Congress(I) has ruled Sikkim twice but has never been elected to power; it managed to take power by merging itself with a ruling regional party. Former Congress(I) Chief Minister B.B. Gooroong, currently the chief political adviser to Chamling, told Frontline: "The people of Sikkim have always preferred a regional party ruling the State to a national one." Bhandari, however, feels that the people are tired of regional parties. "Corruption and casteism have made the people of the State fed up with regional parties," he said.

The Sikkimese population of around six lakh is distinctly divided into three separate ethnic groups - the Nepalis, who constitute about 75 per cent, the Bhutias and the Lepchas. Among the Nepalis, around 70 per cent belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the remaining belong to the upper castes. Chamling, who belongs to an OBC community, is assured of the votes of this section of the population. On the other hand, Bhandari's support base is among the upper-caste Nepalis - the Newars, the Bahuns and the Chhetris.

The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (Siblac), which claims to represent the indigenous Bhutia-Lepcha community in the State and which supported the SDF earlier, now backs the Congress(I). In fact, the community by and large supported the Congress(I) until in the last elections. According to Tseten Tashi Bhutia, formerly the convener of Siblac and an SDF member, the committee is supporting the Congress because that party alone will be able to protect Article 371 F, which accords special status to Sikkim. Siblac is also opposed to the opening of Nathu La, the mountain pass on the Chinese border, until "the rights of the ethnic communities of Sikkim are protected".

Chamling is seeking re-election from his home constituency of Damthang, which he has been representing since 1984 and where he has posted record winning margins. Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, he said: "The SDF will make a clean sweep. As things stand, we shall win 32 out of 32." Bhandari filed his nomination papers for Central Pendham and Gangtok. In the last election he won from Rehnok though he lost in his home constituency of Soreng. The sitting MLA from Gangtok, N.K. Pradhan, won the last election on the SSP ticket. This year he will be taking on his former mentor and leader.

Biraj Adhikari, the Congress(I)'s spokesperson and Lok Sabha candidate, told Frontline: "This time the Congress(I) is definitely coming to power. There is a heavy anti-incumbency sentiment in the State. Chamling's leadership has been visionless, directionless and full of publicity stunts." Adhikari is pitted against the SDF's Nakul Das Rai. The SDF's Bhim Dahal had won the last election, defeating his SSP rival Satish Chandra Rai. This time round SSP president Rajendra Upredi is in the fray for the Lok Sabha seat. The party, weakened by Bhandari's departure, is contesting in only one Assembly constituency.

B.S. Pant, SDF general secretary, feels that the anti-incumbency factor is not working so much against the party as it might be against some MLAs. "We have not given the ticket to nearly 50 per cent of the sitting MLAs in order to avoid anti-incumbency sentiments," Pant said. Among those who have been denied the ticket by the SDF are four Ministers and Deputy Speaker Palden Lachungpa.

Apparently, the popular mood largely favours the SDF. Mundu Sherpa, a resident of Soreng in West Sikkim, said: "The SSP, under the leadership of Bhandari, never did any development work for the villages. At least Chamling is doing something for the poor." Suman Gurung of Jothang in South Sikkim feels the same. "The SDF has always helped us through housing loans and in other ways. The Congress(I) leaders never even visited our village," he said.

Although individuals play a big role in Sikkim politics, a strong party organisation always helps. All that the Congress(I) has is the presence of Bhandari on its side and a perceived anti-incumbency factor working against a government that has been in power continuously for 10 years. The SDF, on the other hand, is a well-organised party, with popular second-rung leaders. Pant said: "Our grassroots work is very strong. Just like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal, we are a cadre-based political party. We have made the rural areas very strong through the devolution of power to the panchayats. As much as 70 per cent of the annual budget of the State goes to the panchayats." Out of the total of 873 wards in rural Sikkim, the SDF controls around 850.