UNDOUBTEDLY he is the angry young man of North East politics. That is why even after suffering the worst defeat of his long political career, Nar Bahadur Bhandari is in no mood to give up. Rather he has reentered the arena with renewed vigour and zeal. His one point agenda is to return to power. Ill health or age is no bar for indomitable Bhandari. These days he is fuming as he believes that the Congress would have formed the government in Sikkim in the recently concluded Assembly elections had it not for gross electoral malpractices initiated by the Chamling Government.

Mr. Bhandari is alleging an electoral malpractice of a different kind, not heard in this country before. He is accusing Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling of manipulating Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) which were used during the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. “This manipulation of the EVMs, unique in nature, displayed results in favour of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF),’’ an angry Bhandari said. He also alleged that the nominations of three Congress candidates were illegally rejected by the District Collectors which gave the ruling party a walkover in these constituencies. Belying poll pundits, SDF swept the polls and won 31 of 32 Assembly seats. Unlike his counterparts in different states, Mr Chamling regained power for the third time defeating the anti-incumbency wave.

Mr. Bhandari along with the 17 other Congress candidates who unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls have filed a petition in the Sikkim High Court against the EVM manipulation and are hopeful of verdict in their favour.

Interestingly, this is not the only case which Mr. Bhandari is fighting against the State Government in the High Court. Four different cases ranging from misappropriation of funds by the State Government to charges of nepotism are pending with the High Court. One case is pending with the Supreme Court as well. 

Mr. Bhandari is not resting after filing the cases. He has come out with a unique idea to conduct free and fair polls. Fomer Sikkim chief minister feels that there can never be free polls with a caretaker government in power. President’s Rule is the only way to ensure free and fair polls, according to Mr. Bhandari as this would prevent any party from misusing State machinery.

Apart from initiating legal battle, Mr Bhandari also sought the help Central leaders and Union Ministers to remove Pawan Chamling from power. He has submitted three memoranda to them seeking action against the Chamling Government. Mr. Bhandari, who is also the Sikkim Congress chief, is confident that  with the party in power at Centre, his  pleas would be sympathetically considered.

Claiming that Sikkim has become a den of the terrorists and the Chief minister as the patron, Mr. Bhandari wrote to Shivraj Patil, “I have reported it on many occasions to former home minister L. K. Adwani, that, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim is actively supporteing Maoist groups. He has close relations with numerous  Maoist elements of Nepal like Biru Bangdel of Lathpanchar, Darjeeling, Ashok Prashant (Chettri) of Pradhan Nagar, Siliguri and associates. The conduct of Mr. Bangdel is already being enquired by the CBI for a     case of fraud magazine printing and still resides in Sikkim and associated with Chief Minister. By hobnobbing with NDA Government, Mr. Chamling has always acted against National Security.”

Besides the charges of electoral malpractices and anti-national actiovities, Mr Bhandari has also brought a slew of corruption charges against the Chamling Government.

He alleged that there has been gross misappropriation and flagrant misuse of Central financial assistance by the SDF government in last ten years. The State Government has consistently failed to submit utilisation certificates over the years, he says. There has been gross misappropriation of funds in Animal Husbandry, Environment and PWD Ministries, the former Chief Minister alleges. Cases of corruption against these departments are pending with the Sikkim High Court. He also charges floating of illegal tenders by the Chamling government especially in Lottery.

According to the veteran leader Sikkim is fast becoming a hotbed of terrorist activities. He says that the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan is active in the state. Recently few ISI agents operating in North Sikkim district escaped    giving a slip to the state police. This is not the first instance but third  such incident.

Out of power for more than a decade Nar Bahadur Bhandari is fighting a battle for his political survival and leaving no stone unturned to oust his one time associate Pawan Chamling.

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