- Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim
The Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) today retaliated against the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) Party. Earlier, the SKM Party had threatened HSP with defamation lawsuit, if failed to prove the statement of Bhaichung Bhutia.
Addressing a press conference, the HSP Spokesperson – Biraj Adhikari stated that “attempting to stifle the voice of opposition is not healthy at all and threatening with the defamation suit from ruling SKM is something undemocratic.”
He further shared “We want to bring to your notice that a document on the letterhead of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha was floated on Social Media on April 8, 2019, 3 days ahead of the assembly elections which was held on April 11, 2019.”
“It is obvious from the document’s substance that it was published to win Chettri-Bahun support for the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha,” – he added.
Interestingly, when the campaign was over and few hours before the voting at 6:49 PM on 10th April 2019, an affiliate page of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha named “SKM Darpan” claimed that the said document is fake.
According to Adhikari, the same was posted at 7:59 PM on the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha page. By this point, the document had gone viral, and SKM had already seized the opportunity to win over the Chettri-Bahun voters.
“Therefore, we will write a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Election Commission of India (ECI); demanding CBI enquiry into the matter.” – added the HSP Spokesperson.
“If the said documents are found to be originated from the SKM itself, then Mr Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) and all other responsible for this should be tried for the forgery & misguiding people under section 419, 465, 468 and 469 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 other relevant sections,” – he added.
