COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Sikkim parties favour early LS, assembly poll

Political parties in Sikkim favour holding the assembly election in the state along with the general election.

All parties, including the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, the opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad, and the Congress, welcomed the President's decision to dissolve the 12th Lok Sabha and go for a mid-term election.

They also voiced support for a simultaneous election to the state assembly.

Sikkim is one of the nine states where assembly elections are due later this year.

SDF general secretary Mohan Dungmali said in a statement in Gangtok today that the President had made the "right decision" in dissolving the 12th Lok Sabha and ordering a mid-term poll.

On the demand to hold the assembly election along with the general election, SSP chief Nar Bahadur Bhandari said his party is ready to face the electorate. "We are in favour of a combined parliamentary and assembly polls as soon as possible," he said.

Bhandari has been extensively touring all the four districts of the Himalayan state for the past six months on a "public awareness campaign". He said the SSP had completed its campaign in the state and was ready for polls.

The Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee leadership said it too favours polls at the earliest, provided they are not held during the long monsoon.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report