Gangtok, March 28: The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has declared its intention to boycott the upcoming Urban Local Body (ULB) elections. The party criticized the seat reservation matrix as “unfair, unconstitutional, and based on unverified census data,” leading to their decision to abstain from the elections.
During a press conference, party vice president Krishna Kharel stated that the SDF will not participate until “fair and proportional representation” is guaranteed for all communities. He also challenged the state government’s claim made by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang regarding the census conducted in 2022 during the assembly session, asserting that no public record or notification of this alleged census is available.
Kharel emphasized, “According to our information, only the 2011 national census is valid, and reservations should be based on that.” He accused the reservation based on unpublished surveys of violating Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law.
Pointing out disparities in reservation, Kharel noted that the Gurung community has been allocated only one seat statewide, while the Limbu community received two reserved and one unreserved seat, and the Tamang community was granted eight reserved seats.
He claimed that, based on previous data, the central OBC should have received around 17 seats, but only eight were allocated, while the state OBC was given 11 seats instead of the expected 14-15.
Kharel labeled the 2022 process as “party-driven and conducted without a declared census,” stating that there was no consultation with all parties or public participation before determining reservations.
He also mentioned that despite submitting objections to the state election commission, the party received no substantial response. Furthermore, he questioned the timing of the election dates, which were announced just days after the reservation notification, leaving stakeholders insufficient time to respond.
In response, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang dismissed these allegations, asserting that the reservation process is based on the cabinet-approved 2022 census and that seat allocations were made in accordance with population figures.
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