SDF will stand to save Sikkim: Dr. MK Sharma
Gangtok: Former SKM minister and Singtam-Khamdong MLA Dr Mani Kumar Sharma, politician Tara Prasad Bhattarai and several others joined the SDF during a public meeting held in Khamdong on Thursday.
Party president and former Chief Minister Pawan Chamling welcomed him into the SDF.
In his joint speech, the rebel MLA shared his reasons for leaving the ruling SKM and staying mostly out of the state, while also rejecting the narrative of ‘SDF not returning to power’.
“They say that in Sikkim, a party that has fallen from government will never return to power. But remember it is always darkest before sunrise… These five years were the darkest for Sikkim with continuous violence, unrest, injustice and oppression. After this period of darkness, it is time for the sun to rise again and hence SDF 2.0 is coming to power in 2024 to save Sikkim,” Dr. Sharma said.
Dr Sharma had resigned from the SKM government cabinet last February over the widespread controversy over the ‘foreigner’ reference against the Sikkimese Nepali community in the comments of a Supreme Court judgement. After this he spent most of the time out of the state and before making a public appearance today in SDF colours, he had resigned from the ruling front two days ago.
Dr Sharma shared that although he was out of the state due to the alleged attacks and brutality against him and his family, he always served the people of his Singtam-Khamdong constituency and maintained touch with them. “Though my life is at stake, I have come here to join the SDF because we have to save Sikkim from SKM somehow…this is our last chance. If we miss this opportunity, we cannot even imagine what the future of Sikkim will be. The people need the return of the SDF to the government.
In his address, Dr Sharma said the SKM government and Chief Minister PS Golay had failed to live up to their promises of “good governance and transformation”.
“Gole used to allege that Chamling is a corrupt politician and promised to file a CBI case against him, but it was only a lie… What could be a bigger lie than ‘LT seats in 10 days’? We were very happy when he promised that only local people would be given opportunities but he gave the keys of Sikkim to outsiders. They sold a hydro power project and in return people got an inverter, similar to selling the sun to give people candles. We cannot accept the sale of Sikkim,” Dr Sharma said.
