PS Golay takes charge of SKM amid sea of supporters

EOI

GANGTOK : Thousands of supporters of Prem Singh Golay gathered at the Palzor Stadium to witness their leader take formal charge of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha that has arrived in Sikkim’s political arena with the promise to bring change or ‘parivartan’. Golay, who resigned from the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front on September 4 to be subsequently expelled from the membership of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, said, “I want to thank the chief minister for setting me free from the golden cage of Chamling and letting me dream for the people of Sikkim”.

He said Chamling underestimated the SKM as just another weak rival, but he will soon find out it is “like Hanuman who destroyed Ravan’s Lanka”. The former MLA promised to usher into the state health, education and economic reform and to provide opportunities to NGOs once his party uproots the Chamling-led government. He said the SKM has born to heal the wounds caused by the chief minister’s community-divisive policy he initiated in 1993-94, one the Sikkimese people are still reeling under.

Further, Golay claimed it was Chamling who gave the go-ahead for the distribution of the defamatory booklet in his early days as chief minister, saying, “It was our dear chief minister Pawan Chamling who directed the Nepal-based author, Gopal Gurung, to write a book to create division between the different communities of Sikkim”. He also condemned the permission give to run casinos in the state and vowed to close them all down saying they are hampering the social structure of Sikkim. The event saw several new faces joining the SKM and they included Kado Lepcha, the Zilla Panchayat of the North District and Jamuna Lepcha, former president of the Casual Employees Association of Sikkim.