Sikkim Opposition gives deadline to Governor

GANGTOK: In a united move, the five Opposition parties of Sikkim have given a 72-hour deadline to Governor Mr V Rama Rao to take action against chief minister Mr Pawan Kumar Chamling in three major charges against the latter.

A joint memorandum signed by the leaders of five Opposition parties, including Congress, BJP and CPI-M, was submitted to the Raj Bhavan secretary today.

“Since the Governor was out of station, we submitted the memorandum to the Raj Bhavan secretary and requested him to immediately fax it to the Governor as the deadline is of 72 hours,” Mr HR Pradhan, president of Sikkim BJP unit, said.

The Governor has been requested to take action on 101 allegations and 36 scams contained in the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) booklet ~ Burma loot in Sikkim ~ against the chief minister.
The state government has only filed one defamation case on behalf of the Governor against the editor and publisher of the booklet, the Opposition leaders, said.

The united Opposition has also sought action on the questionable Nepal nationality of the chief minister and others as was pointed out by the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) chief Mr Nar Bahadur Bhandari to the Governor earlier.

The Governor has also been requested to take action on the petition submitted by the leaders of the Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad, a regional party, on the possible arms and ammunition import in the state by the ruling party.
The Governor has been requested to order a CBI probe into all the three above allegations within 72 hours.
“If the same is not done, the Governor should resign own on moral grounds,” the Opposition leaders, said.
Mr Pradhan alleged that they received a “zero” response from the Governor as far as their earlier memorandums of similar nature was concerned.

In case of no action, the Opposition parties have decided to write to the Prime Minister and their respective party high commands seeking removal of the Sikkim Governor.

Source: The Statesman