"We launched several welfare schemes over the past few years for people of all classes, castes and religions. This was despite the challenges like COVID-19 and the floods last year which devastated our state. When you work for people, the results show," Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang told The Quint a day after the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) returned to power in Sikkim with a resounding victory.
The SKM secured a landslide victory by winning 31 out of 32 seats in the Assembly elections with Tamang emerging victorious in both the Rhenock and Soreng-Chakung constituencies.
The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which is the main Opposition party in the Himalayan state and was in power for 25 years between 1994 and 2019, recorded its worst- ever performance by winning just one seat, despite contesting all the 32 seats. In the 2019 Assembly elections, it had won 15 seats.
In a first, former chief minister and SDF supremo Pawan Chamling lost from both the Poklok Kamrang and Namcheybung Assembly constituencies. In almost 40 years, Chamling will not step inside the Sikkim Legislative Assembly as a legislator.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which broke its alliance that was drawn up in 2019 with the SKM before the elections, and the Congress drew a blank.
Talking to The Quint, Tamang added that the SDF and the Congress had accused him of diluting Article 371F during his tenure, but it "was not and can never be diluted". Article 371F guarantees special provisions for Sikkim.
"Article 371F was not and can never be diluted. It was included in the Constitution to ensure Sikkim's distinct identity and cultural heritage are protected and preserved. Both the Congress and the SDF have forgotten that if any provision under this Article has to be amended, it has to be taken to both Houses of Parliament. And if I really wanted to dilute it, the SKM would not have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court last year, requesting it to remove the reference to the 'people of foreign origin'. I will never allow such dilution to happen."Prem Singh Tamang
What Worked for the SKM?
Chief Minister Tamang's rise has been nothing but meteoric. Known in Sikkim as a 'rebel leader', he made his entry into politics in 2004 by joining the SDF and winning from the Soreng-Chakung Assembly seat.
Between 1994 and 2009, he was a minister in Sikkim and held important portfolios such as animal husbandry, building and housing, ecclesiastical, and industry. He broke away from the SDF and founded the SKM in 2013 and in 2014, he was one of the 10 MLAs to be elected on an SKM ticket.
Five years later, Tamang ended his former mentor's party's 25-year-old rule, with the SKM winning 17 of the state’s 32 constituencies.
Explaining the reason behind the SKM's resounding victory in the 2024 Assembly elections, Amit Patro, the editor of Sikkim Express, told The Quint,
"Since 1985, which was 10 years after Sikkim was merged with India, politics in the state has been individual driven. For example, Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) gave way to Pawan Kumar Chamling’s SDF, which in turn gave way to Tamang’s SKM in 2019."
"Tamang, who at one point was with the SDF and was said to be close to Chamling, is a popular leader with excellent oratory skills. In fact, the locals call him 'common man’s chief minister' while his SKM government came to be known as ‘garib ka sarkar’ (government of the poor). Over the past five years, he introduced some pro-poor schemes such as Sikkim Aama Yojana, Bahini and Vatsalaya; he gave government jobs to around 25,000 youth in the state – a big thing for a small state that has just 4.6 lakh voters," Patro added.
Under Sikkim Aama Yojana, which was introduced in 2023, a grant of Rs 20,000 is provided to eligible non-working, unwed, widowed, divorced or separated mothers in the age group of 18-59 years
Bahini aims at providing 100 percent access to free and safe sanitary pads to secondary and senior secondary schoolgoing girls
Vatsalaya provides financial assistance up to Rs 3 lakh to Sikkimese couples without children, specifically catering to IVF treatments.
Patro added that 'the SKM captialised on the slogan ‘garib ka sarkar’.
Sujal Pradhan, a senior journalist in Sikkim, told The Quint that another factor that might have helped the SKM was the removal of the 'foreigners' tag for Sikkimese Nepalis.
In a judgment last year, the Supreme Court had called Nepalis of Sikkim as 'people of foreign origin'. This had caused widespread protests in the state. Later, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of the reference.
"This was seen a landmark decision that restored dignity and rightful status to the Sikkimese Nepali community, reinforcing their integral identity within Sikkim's socio-cultural fabric," said Pradhan.
Pradhan also that the SDF' s tactic to blame and accuse the SKM of large-scale corruption in the glacial lake outburst disaster in October 2023 had backfired as the latter pointed out how the SDF’s Chamling government had put the people’s lives at risk by commissioning sub-standard hydropower projects.
Meanwhile, Patro added that the BJP could not make a mark in Sikkim as its supporters are mostly non-indigenous (mostly belonging to the Marwari and Bihari community) businesspeople.
Also, given the abrogation of Article 370, people feared if the BJP is voted to power, it will take away Article 371F (which gives special status to the state) from Sikkim.
From Dominance to Decline: SDF'S Journey
Amit Patro said that the SDF's problems have just been growing over time.
"The party has been plagued by defections and internal bickering. The party's fortunes began to wane after it decided to part ways with the BJP, leading to subsequent en masse defections. The emergence of other political parties, particularly the SKM, further eroded the SDF's base and presence in the Himalayan state," he added.
In August 2019, 10 among its 15 MLAs defected to the BJP, making the latter the main opposition party in Sikkim. Two additional legislators joined the SKM, further diminishing the SDF's count.
The defections proved to be a blow that Chamling’s party could not recover from in the next five years.
Patro added that in these elections a major mistake that the party made was fielding mostly older politicians.
"There were hardly any greenhorns. The SDF was unable to capitalise on the saffron party's split from the SKM. It can be said that Tamang’s SKM capitalised on the SDF's weaknesses and further consolidated power. Moreover, even Bhaichung Bhutia's addition to the party could not help the SDF secure seats," he added.
Meanwhile, Chamling told The Quint that the results were a reckoning moment for the SDF.
"The results are a reckoning moment for the party. A deep introspection is needed on where we have to better ourselves and where we have gone wrong and the future course of our party, " he said.
Meanwhile, former ace footballer Bhutia, who merged his Hamro Sikkim Party with the SDF in 2023, lost the Barfung seat, his sixth electoral loss since contesting on a Trinamool Congress ticket 10 years ago.
"We welcome the people's mandate and will work to serve them in whatever capacity we can. I intend to still serve people. Right now, a deep introspection is needed on why our party could not fare as well as we had expected," Bhutia told The Quint.
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