Trekking to ‘Hill Top’
Support of the indigenous Bhutias and Lepchas is crucial to any leader willing to form government in the State.

FAR away from the heat and dust of the plains, tiny Himalayan State Sikkim is perhaps witnessing the fiercest electoral battle of its history. On one side of the ring is Chief Minister and  Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) supremo Pawan Chamling, while indomitable Nar Bahadur Bhandari is on the other side. While one aims to continue his uninterrupted run as the Chief Minister of the State for five more years, the other is eying for a grand comeback. As no one is leaving any stone unturned to achieve the goal, the battle between the two titans of Sikkim politics is all set for a photo finish. Since the poll bugle was sounded in the State, the two titans have attacked each other relentlessly. Pawan Chamling has termed Mr. Bhadari and his lieutenants as ‘’narrow minded people’’, to which the grand old man of Sikkim politics replied that the Sikkim electorate had become mature and they want qualified candidates. While Mr Chamling’s poll plank is development, Mr Bhandari is harping on misrule and corruption.

But till couple of months ago, it appeared to be a one-horse race as Mr Chamling was way ahead of the others. Many political pundits predicted an easy victory for Pawan Chanling and his SDF. But it goes to the credit of Nar Bahadur Bhandhari to make the latest electoral battle in the State an evenly contested one by managing the support of indigenous Bhutia and Lepcha communities. He has infact rejuvenated the Congress in the state after Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) merged with the former. The history of the electoral battles in Sikkim, since its merger with India in 1974, shows that the Bhutia-Lepcha (BL) factor had always played a major role in deciding the outcome of polls in the State. To be more precise, the party, which enjoys the support of the Bhutias and the Lepchas had always emerged winner at the hustings. The support of the indigenous Bhutias and Lepchas, with a population of about 100,000, thus is crucial to any leader willing to form government in the State. In the last Assembly elections, SDF had 23 MLAs, and  SSP nine.

Needless to say that the BL community had sided with the SDF then, and SDF had won. In 1994 too, BL community had sided with SDF and they had won. But in the 1989 elections, the BL community had sided with Nar Bhadur Bhandari’s Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) and the latter had swept the polls. This is a peculiarity that the minority community makes or breaks a party’s claim to rule. What makes the election scenario in Sikkim interesting this time is the fact that after a gap of 15 years, the BL community has once again decided to support Nar Bahadur Bhandari. The new ethnic polarisation has opened up new political equations in the State. Many believe that an upset result is on the cards as history is all set to repeat itself as far as the final poll outcome is concerned. But Pawan Chamling is not buying this argument. Notwithstanding the BL communities’ decision to support the Congress, Mr. Chamling is unfazed. Remind him about the crucial role played by BL communities in determining the final outcome, the Sikkim Chief Minister shoots back — ‘’We are sure winners, and people know how much development work we did during the last five years of our rule.’’

Expressing similar sentiments SDF spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP P. T. Gyamtso has claimed that the party would come back to power with two-thirds majority. Amidst such claims and counter-claims the million-dollar question is what prompted the BL communities to snap ties with SDF, especially in the crucial election year.

“’The SDF Government had poured cold water on the hopes and aspirations of the Bhutia-Lepcha communities in their fight against preserving their distinct cultural and political identities and hence the decision this time by the two communities to back the Congress,’’ Nima Lepcha, a community leader, revealed. Quite interestingly, like Assam, infiltration is a major issue in Sikkim election this time. The Bhutias and the Lepchas were once in a majority in Sikkim. But unabated influx of migrants from Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet has outnumbered the two ethnic groups in their own land. The change in the demographic composition has led to ethnic struggle.

“The large scale influx of people from outside has threatened the very existence of Bhutias and Lepchas in Sikkim,’’ Tseten Tashi Bhutia regretted. Tseten Tashi Bhutia is among those SDF leaders who had left the party recently. He had won the last elections on the SDF ticket but this time he has switched loyalties and joined the Congress. He is contesting the May 10 assembly poll on a Congress ticket. The general feeling is that Chief Minister Chamling is encouraging people from the Nepali community, now in a majority, to overpower the indigenous Bhutia and Lepcha communities politically. In most of the 12 seats reserved for the Bhutia and Lepcha communities, the Nepali voters outnumber the indigenous population, leading to the discontent.

It is where that Mr Bhandari has actually scored over Mr Chamling. And he is not hiding the fact. ‘’We have clearly mentioned in our manifesto about the party’s support to the demands of the Bhutia and Lepcha communities if we are voted to power,’’ Mr Bhandari asserted.

Encouraged by the Congress’ stand, many Lepcha and Bhutia leaders have recently left the SDF and joined the Congress and some of them are fighting the ensuing election on Congress ticket. “People are very happy and assured now. We have been able to remove the fear psychosis that they were undergoing. They are feeling confident and hence we are also feeling very happy. About 150 people have joined the Congress,’’ said Ashok Tsong, Working President of the Congress. As expected, the SDF is not putting much importance to this large number of defections. With SDF in power, there are numerous demands for tickets from different constituencies. Thus as soon as the candidates for the different constituencies were announced some dissatisfaction and hence some resignations were expected, SDF spokesman claimed. The SDF is confident that development works during the SDF regime will help the party to cross the electoral hurdle. ‘’Development in the SDF regime cannot be surpassed by the records of other regimes.

The development as such is visible. Thus the people have confidence in this government. The development parameters will help in the financing of future projects. Thus the people will look into all this and bring the SDF to power,’’ Mr Gyamtso claimed. Going one step further, Pawan Chamling has challenged Nar Bahadur Bhandari to initiate debate on the issue of development. “I challenge Mr. Bhandari for an open debate on how much development on various fronts has taken place in the SDF regime and how much was done in his regime. Instead of indulging in petty and  unsubstantiated criticism and attacks he should be able to come out in public,’’ Mr. Chamling said while releasing the party’s manifesto. Mr. Chamling branded the Sikkim Pradesh Congress ‘’a community of opportunists’’, who were only interested in personal benefits. He also pointed out that during Bhandari’s regime Sikkim became a State full of scams, scandals, lacking in freedom of the press or freedom to speak out and a State which was very much lagging behind.

The Sikkim Chief Minister has appealed to the people not to be fooled by the false promises. He also said that the Sikkim Pradesh Congress was a group of fly-by-night operators, who did not have any long-term agenda but were after small-time gains. Mr. Chamling claimed that the internal revenue of the State was now Rs 300 core, an increase from the Rs 40 crore during Mr. Bhandari’s regime. He wanted to raise the revenue to Rs 1,000 crore by 2015. During his regime, the tourist inflow of the State has increased and Sikkim today was a peaceful state, he claimed.

On the other hand, not satisfied only by ensuring the support of the Bhutias and the Lepchas, Mr. Bhandari has also sought support from the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in West Bengal. Mr. Bhandari has sought support from GNLF supremo Subash in a meeting between the two, which was ‘’very cordial’’, according to the insiders. It may be mentioned here that in the late eighties, when GNLF was engaged in a violent movement for a separate state for three hill sub-divisions in West Bengal, Mr. Bhandari, the then chief minister, had lent ‘’tacit support’’ to the GNLF chief. However, the two leaders fell apart on the issue of language in the early nineties, when Mr. Bhandari was championing the cause of Nepali language and Mr Ghishing was demanding for legislation of Gorkhali language. Both languages are essentially the same and only their nomenclature had become the cause of discord. Apart from the issue of influx and demographic change, the other major issue is the Preservation of the Article 371 (F) of the Constitution, which sanctifies Sikkim’s merger with India. Former SDF MLA Tseten Tashi Bhutia has claimed that he switched sides to protect Article 371(F), which accords special status to Sikkim. Special provisions under article 371(F) were given to Sikkim under the leadership of the Congress and it is the only party, which has promised to stand by the Bhutia Lepcha manifesto.

“We had sent the manifesto to all parties in the State, including the SDF, saying he would pledge support to whoever supports the manifesto. Subsequently, we received letters pledging support only from the Congress. Thus, I have joined the Congress to fight for the Bhutias and Lepchas,’’ he said.

Article 371 (F) was ‘’continuously diluted’’ during Mr Chamling’s rule and inter-communal rivalry had also increased, he claimed. Another issue, which could play significant role in determining the winner is not granting the  reservation to Limboos and Tamangs as promised by Mr. Chamling. Another factor which may work against Mr Chamling is benefits not reaching the grassroots level. People have been alleging that the panchayats have become corrupt and that works given to contractors in the villages have largely not been executed because either a large part or the entire money have been siphoned away by panchayats.