A couple of retired bureaucrats and former leaders of the rival Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) joined the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) at an event in West Sikkim district’s Dentam on March 20..
The SKM is a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-helmed National Democratic Alliance.
Elections to the 32-member Sikkim Assembly and the lone Lok Sabha constituency in the Himalayan State are scheduled on April 19.
Those who joined the SKM in the presence of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang included former Sports and Youth Affairs Secretary Raju Basnett, former Rural Development Department Secretary Chewang Gyatso Bhutia, and former MLA Gopal Baraily.
The joining at the Vijay Bhava Jan Sammelan event followed the switchover by former SDF heavyweights G.M. Gurung, C.B. Karki, and Chandra Maya Subba to the SKM along with some 5,000 supporters on March 3.
“The acceptance of SKM underscores the people’s appreciation of the development work over the past five years,” the Chief Minister, also referred to as P.S. Golay, said.
“After serving under [Nar Bahadur] Bhandari and [Pawan Kumar] Chamling and the P.S. Golay-led SKM government, I bring 32 years of experience to affirm that the current SKM government is the most promising and trustworthy,” Mr. Bhutia said.
Mr. Bhandari ruled as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for almost 14 years while Mr. Chamling headed the SDF government for more than 24 years until May 2019.
