Chief Minister and the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) President Pawan Kumar Chamling today said the landslide mandate in the Assembly polls reflected the people's faith in the performance of his government during the past 15 years.
The SDF won all out of the 32 Assembly seatsin the state. “The people have acknowledged the SDF government’s policies and programmes for development of the state and welfare of the people and rewarded the ruling party by giving a mammoth victory in the polls,” Chamling told reporters here. Chamling said that contrary to the anticipation of his political adversaries of an anti-incumbency factor, he always knew that the people would elect his party to power.
Chamling, who is set to create a new record in the electoral annals of the state by securing a fourth term in power, said that he has been vindicated in his decision to deny tickets to 20 sitting MLAs, including nine ministers, in the list of SDF candidates. “I had taken a calculated decision to drop 70 per cent of the SDF MLAs due to their poor performance and replace them with young blood to serve the state and its people with renewed vigour and commitment”. “I will reward the young MLAs, including the women, suitably by giving due representation to them in the government,” he added. He also alleged that opposition parties pursued casteist and communal politics in the run up to the polls, but were rejected by the people. His rival and SPCC President Nar Bahadur Bhandari was not available for comment.
