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SSP to go it alone at the assembly elections

Sikkim's main opposition party, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad, led by former chief minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari, has decided not to get into any alliance with any regional or national party in the coming assembly election in the state.

A party statement today said its central working committee meeting, presided over by Bhandari, recently decided to contest 32 seats for the assembly election scheduled for November next.

The former chief minister claimed that the party's month-long "public contact" at the grassroots level was a success.

With the month-long campaign in the Limboo district of west Sikkim, dominated by other backward classes, the party will now launch the campaign in the south district, the release said.

Incidentally, the SSP is trying to woo the electorate in the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front strongholds in west and south Sikkim districts since, in the last assembly elections, the SDF had bagged six out of the nine constituencies in West Sikkim. The Congress had won one seat then and the SSP, two, one of them being Bhandari's home constituency of Soreng from where he has being elected consequently for a record five time since he first contested in the state assembly elections in 1979.

However, one legislator elected on an SSP ticket from the tribal reserved constituency of Tashiding later "switched" over to the SDF.

The statement said that the SSP supremo would now start "campaigning" in the SDF strongholds of south Sikkim.

The political scenario in the Himalayan state had hotted ever after Chief Minister Pawan Chamaling expressed his willingness to hold "snap" polls six months ahead of schedule. All parties in the state are ensuring they are not caught off-guard if such a snap poll does occur.

UNI

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