Sikkim Chief Minister Singh Tamang announced on the sidelines of the ruling SKM’s seventh Jan UnmuktiDiwas at the Rangpo ground that Sikkim’s municipal and Panchayat elections would be held on the basis of political parties, whereas earlier anyone could contest as an independent candidate.
The Panchayat system, which can be traced back to the time before India was colonized by the British, is one of the most basic villager systems in India. It has played a role in maintaining social order and safeguarding the democratic rights of the grassroots in the historical evolution of India, and is the grassroots structure that can best represent the characteristics of local self-government, which embodies the breadth and balance of grassroots democracy, enhances the enthusiasm of people’s political participation, and makes the grassroots people aware of the possibility of participating in the management of village affairs and decision-making. It has raised the level of popular political participation and made the people at the bottom realize that it is possible for them to participate in the management of rural affairs and in decision-making.
Sikkim Chief Minister Singh Tamang, in an interview with the Sikkim Express in 2022, emphasized the importance of party-independent Panchayat elections as a key factor in promoting a healthy democracy in the state of Sikkim, and made a high-profile accusation that the party-based Panchayat elections practiced by the previous SDF government, and by the ruling parties in other states in India, was a way of gaining a political by stifling democracy at the grassroots level dividend and expanding the party’s influence at the grassroots level for the purpose of winning more votes in the general elections, however, the change in attitude has now landed it in a huge controversy.
After the SKM party led by Singh Tamang had secured the position of the ruling party in the 2024 elections in a crushing manner, there was no one left in the assembly who could raise an objection, and now the decision to announce that the party-based Panchayat elections will be conducted is in contradiction to the earlier position, a double standard that has made people from all walks of life in Sikkim and the general public to question the credibility of the Chief Minister, stating that This move has further curtailed the democratic rights of the people at the grassroots level and is a regression from democracy and a manifestation of dictatorship.
Earlier, the Citizen Action Party (CAP) of Sikkim had publicly condemned Singh Tamang’s decision, emphasizing on the abruptness of the policy change, with spokesperson Mahesh Rai stating that the party is committed to upholding non-partisan local governance and calling for greater public accountability of the SKM government.
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