Will Chamling's charm work in 2019?

Bhaichung Bhutia's Hamro Sikkim has opened up a third front against the CM in Sikkim even as the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha keeps snipping at its vote base

Last week, Pawan Kumar Chamling, chief minister of Sikkim, became India’s longest-serving chief minister ever. And, entirely appropriately, football legend Bhaichung Bhutia was in Delhi to announce a new political party in Sikkim that would challenge Chamling’s regime.

Given Chamling’s political longevity, this is a formidable task. If Chamling is a Nepali-speaking native of Sikkim, so is Bhaichung Bhutia. Not only that, he is much younger, more energetic and not an entire political novice. But Bhutia has not won too many elections. He joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2013, contested the lok Sabha election in 2014 from