Party workers called on to reignite revolution...

...THIS TIME TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BECOME MORE INVOLVED AND PROACTIVE 

SDF LAYS OUT GRAND 20TH FOUNDATION DAY CELEBRATIONS


JORETHANG, 04 March: The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front laid out a grand twentieth foundation day celebrations here today, putting together a staggering attendance of what appeared to be a lakh party supporters. During the daylong celebrations, the party announced Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as the party President for another term and passed 32 resolutions.
In his address later in the day, the Chief Minister reminisced at length on the party’s formative days, recalling with fondness the party workers who had put much at risk by siding with SDF at the time. He paid homage to the founding members and supporters who have passed away in recent years and even spoke with warmth of those who have left the party “for reasons best known to them”, and shared that he missed each and every one of them and wished them success for their future endeavours.
His address was not all fond recollections though, and he also lashed out against Opposition parties for what he stressed was their negative politics of protesting and condemning without offering viable alternatives. This approach of opposing everything that the government was doing was irresponsible, he said, because it challenged the development model prepared by the SDF government for Sikkim without presenting an alternate model.
In this regard, he pointed out the hydel protest joined by the Opposition in Sikkim and explained that the SDF Government has identified hydel generation as the main source of revenue generation for the State. The Opposition should suggest alternative means for revenue generation and then blame the government, he said.
While maintaining that the Opposition was distancing itself from the people with their “irrational politics”, he added that the only reason the Opposition could still continue with its attempts to derail development in Sikkim was because the civil society did not hold them accountable.
Neutrality, when it comes to issues important for the future of Sikkim, was not a healthy stance to take, he said of the lay people and reminded party workers that the SDF had sparked a revolution in Sikkim with its formation in 1993. The time, he said, has come for the party workers to reignite the spark of revolution, this time to inspire the people to become more involved and participate more proactively in the development of the State.
“SDF is, and has always been, a party of the underprivileged, and hence, when baseless allegations are levelled against it and its government, it is an direct assault on the right of the poor,” he said, while calling on party workers to address all such allegations in the public domain and demolish them through democratic mediums available to them.
While there had been much speculation that the party would address the dissidence of its Upper Burtuk MLA today, no such action was seen today.
In his address though, Mr. Chamling, without taking any names, though his hint was obvious, scoffed at the “group”, which he said, was “searching for Ranko [mashal, torch] Democracy” when the democracy sought out by him with a candle in 1994 was functioning flawlessly in Sikkim.
Sikkim’s democratic and developmental credentials, he pointed out, have been recognised and feted at the national level. Pointing out that SDF had inherited a near bankrupt state in 1994, he highlighted that Sikkim was not only economically unsound at the time, but also political unstable and divided at the time. The SDF Government, he added, has worked hard to repair the economy and the social fabric of the State. “In the process, we have won the hearts and earned the trust of the Sikkimese. This will not be an easy bond to break,” he said.
He stated that at present there was no alternative to the governance brought by the SDF government in Sikkim and stressed that the only hindrance being faced was in the constant ambushing by the Opposition “misleading and confusing the people”.
Assuring that the party and its government remained undeterred, he announced that the next mission for the government was to establish the best educational standards in Sikkim and towards this end, the government will be allocating 20% of its budget to the education sector.
He also announced the establishment of model schools in every GPU and an enhancement in the intake number for the CM’s Meritorious Scheme.