GANGTOK, 21 Mar: The state Bharatiya Janata Party has stated
that it will declare the names of all its 32 candidates for the upcoming
general elections in the next two days.
After the change in the party leadership recently, the state
BJP held its first press conference here at a local hotel which was addressed by
its new president Palden Wangchuk Khangserpa, general secretary GD Agarwal and
BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate, NB Khatiwara.
It was stated that the party is confident that the BJP will
form the government at the centre and voting for a BJP candidate for the Lok
Sabha would be the best way for the Sikkimese to get their voice heard at the
national level. The party also expressed confidence that the BJP candidate in
Darjeeling, SS Alhuwalia will also win the upcoming elections from the West
Bengal Hills and this will further strengthen the representation of the hills in
New Delhi.
The state BJP went on to add that none of the MPs from
Sikkim had delivered in the past except DK Bhandari who had worked pro-actively
to include Nepali language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution of India.
“We have one MP who represents everyone irrespective of
their political affiliation in the state. The MP represents the entire state
however this is not the case now. An MP should represent the state and not a
particular political party,” stated Mr. Khatiwara, the BJP’s Lok Sabha
candidate today.
He added that if he wins the Lok Sabha elections his first
priority would be to “undo the wrongs” and restore the guarantees and
privileges of the people that have been left out by the previous MPs.
Mr Khatiwara went on to state, “I am shocked at how the
leaders of the SDF and SKM are reacting to each other in their political
speeches.”
