Opposition to seek stay order on municipal polls Boycotts all-party meet, terms SEC as ‘SDF agent’

Expressing strong objections over delimitation of rural areas into municipal wards and reservation of the posts of Gangtok Municipality Corporation Mayor and Namchi Municipal Council Chairperson, the opposition parties today stormed out of the all-party meeting called by State Election Commission here at Chintan Bhavan for the forthcoming urban bodies polls.

The opposition parties-Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC), Sikkim BJP unit, Sikkim CPIM State committee and Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad (SHRP)-said later that they would be filing a legal petition seeking a stay order on the ‘undemocratic and unconstitutional’ municipal elections slated to be held in Sikkim on April 27. They had staged a walkout of the all-party meet within 20 minutes after the meet had started here at the Chintan Bhavan.

“We will be approaching the court to seek a stay order for this undemocratic and unconstitutional election which is full of anomalies and need to be rectified first”, said SPCC senior vice president and former minister KN Upreti to media.

Stating that elections in the present format goes against the interests of the bonafide Sikkimese persons, Upreti accused the State Election Commission of working as an ‘agent’ of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government to ‘impose’ the municipal elections on the people. The commission did not took us into confidence and did not provide us any documents or notifications on the election process and it also did not held public hearings while transgressing into the rural areas to expand the municipal wards, he said.

The SPCC senior vice-president said the twenty percent rural area has been added to the Gangtok Municipal Corporation and five to seven percentage of rural areas including monastic estates have been illegally amalgamated into the Nagar Panchayats. He said that the old laws of Sikkim and Article 371F have been violated by the municipal elections ‘threatening the identity of the bonafide Sikkimese persons’. He demanded the commission to work in an independent manner.

Taking a similar stand to approach the court, State BJP president Padam Chettri expressed his party’s strong objections to the reservation of posts of Mayor and Chairperson.
It may be added that the State Election Commission has reserved the post of Mayor of Gangtok Municipality Corporation for the Bhutia-Lepcha community and the post of Chairperson of Namchi Municipal Council for the Limboo-Tamang community.

The democratic rights of the Gangtok people to select their Mayor have been massacred, said Chettri. If this can be done then the State government can go ahead and reserve the post of the Chief Minister in the name of a particular community, he said.

“We will go to the court and obtain a stay order for such undemocratic elections”, said the State BJP president.
“We have also not been provided with the voter lists and today we are straightway informed that elections will be held on April 27. Where is the time for us to check the voter lists for finding out bogus or ineligible voters?” Chettri questioned.

Similarly, CPIM State committee member Punya Prasad Koirala expressed the party’s protests against the municipal polls. The opposition parties has been overlooked and democracy has been taken for a ride for making the elections a one sided matter by the commission, he said. He added that CPIM will be joining other opposition parties to seek a stay order.

The SHRP which has already announced to boycott the municipal elections has also taken a similar stand. Party general secretary Tara Shrestha said the addition of the rural areas into municipal wards is against the interest of the people. We will go to the court and the people, he said.

Meanwhile, Sikkim Gorkha Prajantrik Party (SGPP), which also attended today’s all-party meet but did not joined the walkout protest, accused the State Election Commission of putting the concerns of the opposition parties in the backburner.
The commission has sidelined the opposition parties by not giving them any opportunity to place their concerns and directly announcing the poll schedule today, said SGPP legal secretary KB Rai. He however, said that the other opposition parties should have not boycotted the all-party meeting.

We will not boycott the polls but don’t commit to contest as our issues are related with the Assembly, said the SGPP legal secretary.

The opinion of Sikkim Sangram Parishad president Rajendra Upreti who attended today’s meet could not be received. The Sikkim National Peoples Party has already declared to boycott the elections while no representative from Sikkim Jan Ekta Party and Sikkim unit of NCP attended today’s meeting.

On the other hand, the State Election Commission stated that the elections will take place as per schedule.

Opposition Red over
Reservation of posts of Mayor, chairperson
Amalgamation of rural areas into municipal wards
Last minute consultation by State Election Commission
No discussion in electoral rolls

Source: Sikkim Express