Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Upset with state election commission, Cong will not contest municipal elections

The Congress party will not contest Municipal elections scheduled for 09 October in Sikkim. This, as a sign of protest against the State Election Commission ignoring opposition parties while proceeding with delimitation of Municipal wards and in deciding reservation of posts in Municipal bodies.
The recently appointed State Pradesh Congress Committee president, Bharat Basnet, informed newspersons in Gangtok today that the party has submitted a memorandum to the Governor on this matter as well. The party insists that the State Election Commission has “grossly violated” democratic principles prescribed for holding elections and has further alleged that the SEC was “directly working on the advice of the party in government”.
He also alleged that the state government has intentionally overlooked seat reservation for Bhutia-Lepcha. While ST seats were segregated between BL and LT in the last municipal elections, this time, the reservation has been marked as ST. This, the Congress believes is improper.
Referring to a SPCC memorandum submitted to the Governor today, Mr. Basnet said that they have also requested the Governor to ensure a tribal status for the left out Sikkimese holding Sikkim Subject Certificates. This can be done by directing the concerned authorities to recommend the Centre for necessary amendment in Scheduled Tribes Order, 1978, Mr.  Basnet believes. Besides, the Centre should also be requested for bringing a Bill in the Parliament to this effect, he adds.

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