Chamling campaigns at home as a candidate for the first time PURAN TAMANG

NAMCHI, 28 Mar: Sikkim Democratic Front president, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, arrived home to campaign today, approaching voters in his village for the first time as a candidate as well. Mr. Chamling convened well-attended campaign meetings at Yangang and Lingmo under Rangang-Yangang constituency. This was the final day of his election campaign in the south district.
Born and brought up in Yangang, Mr. Chamling moved to Damthang constituency when he graduated to Assembly elections in 1984. He was a panchayat in Yangang before moving up to the Assembly. Yangang, till 2009, came under Khamdong constituency which was a Scheduled Caste reserved constituency till then.
While addressing the people, Mr. Chamling said that he was contesting the elections from Rangang-Yangang on public demand and shared that over the next five years, he hoped to interact with the people of his home constituency on a one-to-one basis and fulfill their demands and aspirations, collaborating to make it the most developed constituency.
In what was clearly an emotional moment for him, approaching voters at home for the first time as a candidate, Mr. Chamling shared that Rangang-Yangang will always be a special constituency for him because it was here that his worldview was shaped and where his political roots were struck.
He said that he decided to contest from his home constituency this time so that he could do something substantial for it.
“The people of Yangang have seen what a son of Yangang has done for Sikkim in the past 20 years and now I want to work hands-on in creating opportunities for the people of this constituency in the coming term so that they can reap the benefits for several future generations,” he said.
He highlighted that with the aim to infuse an intellectual spirit into the people of Yangang, he brought a Central university to the area, he urged the people to make the best use of the opportunities thus created.
“Within the next five years, the Sikkim University would be completely functional from Yangang itself,” he announced, pointing out that because of the Sikkim University, employment opportunities have been created here along with an expansion in the scope for business and trade.
“This,” he said, “will ensure the future and security of the people of the area and hence it saddens me that there were still some sections which are opposing this.”
He went on to share details of other projects planned for the area like the skywalk at Bhaley-Dhunga.
On the current politics, he underlined that the SDF has never misguided the youth of the state and has instead concentrated on equipping them with new skills and creating opportunities for them. “Those in the Opposition, however, are consistently at work to mislead the youth and distract them away from opportunities awaiting them,” he said.
He announced that the SDF would continue to prioritise development and empowerment for the Sikkimese in its next term as well and said that the party needs to be brought back to government to give continuity to the initiatives and missions being pursued for the past two decades.
The people’s mandate was to decide whether Sikkim should move forward or regress, he said, adding that he was confident that the people will choose the former and ensure that not only did SDF win, but that it won so convincingly that the Opposition candidates forfeited their deposits as well.
He cautioned the people that parties might approach them with communal and partisan appeals, and stressed that such overtures should be spurned because such attitudes were counterproductive and dangerous.
Among the priority pursuits for the next SDF government would be Scheduled Tribe status for all remaining communities of Sikkim, Income Tax exemption for old settlers, including government employees from outside who joined service before 1979, he added.
The meeting was also attended by the Lok Sabha candidate, PD Rai.