One year into second term, SKM has no progress to show, alleges CAP Sikkim

GANGTOK, : The Citizen Action Party (CAP) Sikkim has asserted that the SKM government does not have any tangible progress report to share with the people, even after completing one year of its second term in office.

“The SKM government celebrated the first year of their second term on June 10. The SKM government, on different occasions, has spoken about all the achievements since the party came to power, but CAP Sikkim would like to point out that the SKM government has been a failure in many ways, especially in basic necessities related to electricity, road connectivity, education, health, water sectors, etc. When we dig deeper, there is not a single sector where the State government has done a good job for the benefit of the people. The citizens are definitely suffering,” expressed CAP Mahila Parishad president Bina Sharma.

Sharma was addressing a press meet here on Wednesday.

“The only thing the SKM government is good at is violence and suppressing the voices of those speaking against the State government. Instead of focusing on violence, the SKM government should focus on the development of the State and the safety of its citizens,” she added.

At the press meeting, the CAP Sikkim functionaries criticized the SKM government for alleged failures in different sectors, including roads, electricity, water supply, employment, victimization transfers, health, and an increase in taxes.

CAP Sikkim spokesperson Albert Gurung said: “The SKM government has completed six years. In the recent India Today Conclave, Chief Minister PS Golay had said, "The opposition is the soul of democracy." CAP Sikkim, being the soul of democracy, is here to talk about the progress report of the six years since the SKM government came to power. No one from the SKM government has made any official release about the progress report of the SKM government. They have failed because no work has been done by the SKM government so far.”

The CAP Sikkim spokesperson referred to the virtual address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Statehood Golden Jubilee celebrations.

“The Prime Minister did not highlight or speak about the long-pending political demands of Sikkim. Maybe it was because the Chief Minister had announced on national TV that he didn’t need anything from the PM, except for him to step foot on Sikkim’s soil. When you meet the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister should talk for the benefit of his State. There are long-pending demands like the reservation of Limboo-Tamang seats, the Karmapa’s visit to Sikkim, reservation for the 12 left-out communities, restoration of Nepali seats, etc., which have not been fulfilled for 50 years. These demands could have been highlighted properly, but unfortunately, they have not been raised by the SKM government. The SKM government is only in celebration mode. There are talks that the PM will visit Sikkim soon. If he does visit this time, then these demands should be raised,” said Gurung.