Congress promises to restore Art 371F to its original form

KUNAL RAI

GANGTOK,: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) national spokesperson Mathew Antony, also the party’s star campaigner, is here in Sikkim to oversee the party’s preparations for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Speaking to the media at Gangtok, the AICC national spokesperson urged the people of Sikkim not to be swayed away by the alleged misleading guarantees and promises of the Modi government.

“People across the nation including Sikkim have been hearing about ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ but those all are white lies and we urge the people not be misguided by such misleading guarantees. Today the nation is reeling under unemployment crises but the BJP government has failed to address it. Where is the BJP or ‘Modi Guarantee’ to resolve this burning issue? The lack of employment opportunities have led to drug abuse and rise in anti-social activities,” he said.

Antony maintained that rates of cooking fuel, petrol and diesel have skyrocketed with the common masses further squeezed by addition of GST on these essential items. He also slammed the Prime Minister for failing to visit Manipur which has been reeling under prolonged civil unrest. The BJP has compromised the ECI, CBI, ED and even the judiciary to suppress the opposition as seen in the arrests of Chief Ministers Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal recently, he said.

Having worked against the people’s expectations, the BJP will miserably fail in the 2024 election and the INDIA alliance is on course to form the next government at the Centre, asserted the AICC spokesperson.

On Sikkim, the AICC spokesperson said that Sikkim enjoys special Constitutional provisions, protected under Article 371F. “The BJP government at the Centre have taken away Article 370 and people here cannot have confidence that Article 371F is protected under BJP. It is only the INDIA alliance that can protect the special rights and identity of Sikkim and Sikkimese under Article 371F. We urge people of Sikkim to think wisely before casting their votes in this election,” he said.

In his address to the media, Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) chairman and Lok Sabha candidate Gopal Chettri also reiterated that Congress is the only party which can save Article 371F from further dilution and restore the Constitutional provision to its original form.

The Congress and its INDIA alliance are all set to form the government at the Centre and if I am elected, I will strongly raise the issues of Sikkim with the support of other Congress MPs in the Parliament, promised Chettri. We can also work to amend those Central Acts extended to Sikkim which have directly or indirectly diluted Article 371F and restore its original form, he added.

We have already worked out with our 2024 election manifesto that would be soon launched where the promises and programmes of Congress for Sikkim are detailed, said Chettri.