GANGTOK: Former chief minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling has slammed the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) government in the state.
Pawan Chamling, who is also the president of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), has claimed that Sikkim is “on the verge of a massive collapse, economically and politically”.
Chamling has accused the SKM government in Sikkim of allegedly “draining wealth” of the state and ‘destroy’ it.
“After four years of SKM governance, Sikkim had lost almost everything. Sikkim is becoming poorer with all the Sikkimese wealth draining out of the state,” SDF chief Pawan Chamling said.
Chamling further called Sikkim CM PS Tamang as a “puppet CM controlled by his business partners and advisors from outside Sikkim”.
“Who is controlling the major businesses of Sikkim? The non-Sikkimese bosses of our puppet CM. The SKM government is all about what the Sarogis, the Mitals and the Agarwals want and not about what the people of Sikkim need and deserve,” said Chamling.
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Chamling further said that the “SKM party itself is run by people like Lakpa Jojos and Captain Jojos and several other non-Sikkimese people, whose sole intention is to milk the state government to fulfil their greed”.
“Sikkimese interests is not even on the edge of their radar. The remote controller of the SKM party and the government is outside Sikkim. Who bought the seven hydro power projects of Sikkim? An outsider businessman. Who bought the equity share of Sikkim? An outsider businessman. Who owns the Centre of Excellence which is under construction in Chakhung? Non-Sikkimese business partners of the Sikkim’s Chief Minister. Although it is a private university, the Sikkim government allocated a fund of a whopping Rs 900 crore which is 90 percent of the total cost. Who gave the entire Karfectar with mother dairy farm and Capacity Building Directorate to a private company? The SKM government. Prime locations of Gangtok such as the multi-storey parking and the Old West Point School buildings and Old STNM hospital have been given to non-Sikkimese businessmen to make a five star hotel and shopping malls. Moreover, the SKM government gave the Viability Gap Funding of Rs 140 crore to the private partner of the Old West Point project and Rs 122 crore to the Bhaledhunga and Pelling projects. Many other government property and assets have been sold to non-Sikkimese business people,” the former Sikkim CM added.