Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) leader Bhaichung Bhutia on Friday asserted that the Pawan Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Party (SDF) will not come back to power in next year’s Assembly elections and positioned his party as an alternative that will herald in a change in Sikkim politics.

Addressing his party’s first public meeting after its formation in May, Bhutia offered his prognosis for elections 2019.

“I, Bhaichung Bhutia, will give you an assurance that the SDF and Pawan Chamling will not come back to power in 2019. Why will they not come back? You need 17 seats to come to power. They used to come to power by winning all the 16 seats in West and South. Pawan Chamling and the SDF will not win a single seat in West and in South this time,” he said.

The SDF, which has been ruling Sikkim for nearly 25 years, had won the last Assembly elections by bagging 22 out of the 32 seats, including all the 16 seats from West and South districts. “In the East and North, they had only won four or five seats last time. They will not be given even those four or five seats this time,” he said. While the East district has 13 Assembly seats, North Sikkim has three seats.

Reminiscent of the attacking flair he used to display on the football pitch, the former India captain went hammer and tongs at Chamling, calling him corrupt and divisive. “When Pawan Chamling came to power in 1994, he was the poorest chief minister in the country. How come today he has become the richest chief minister?” he asked, while accusing him of taking commission and percentage from power and pharmaceutical companies operating in the state.

Bhutia pledged to bring in a number of changes in the state if his party came to power. “We will not contest the panchayat elections on party basis and will do as independents. Independents will work in their areas. The party and flags have brought about division in the villages,” he said, adding that even the lone sangha seat in the Assembly will not be contested on party lines.

Out of the 32 Assembly seats, one seat is reserved for the sangha, which is a body of Buddhist monks.

The HSP leader also pledged to provide land rights to the workers of the Temi tea garden and dwellers of forest villages and employment to local youths in pharmaceutical companies. “If our party comes to power, we will also provide 24-hour electricity to the people,” he said.

The HSP’s meeting was held at the same spot where the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president P. S. Golay had addressed the public after his release from jail on August 10.

The SKM had own won 10 seats in the last elections, but seven of its MLAs had later defected to the ruling SDF.