Gangtok, Oct. 21: The three Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) legislators who had defected to the Chamling camp in July will “officially” join the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) on October 25, but are unlikely to be given plum positions within the government immediately, party sources told The Telegraph.
They would, however, be “suitably rewarded” in the future, the sources added.
“Let the induction be complete after which some legal processes are due. Other matters will come up only later,” said a senior party leader.
Losing-Pacheykhani MLA, J. K. Bhandari, Gangtok MLA N.K. Pradhan and Bara-Pathing legislator, Sonam Dorjee, will be inducted into the SDF after a formal function at Mintokgang, the official residence of the chief minister, said political adviser to Chamling B. B. Gooroong.
The new Governor of Sikkim, M. Rama Rao, would also take over from his predecessor Kidar Nath Sahani on the same day at Raj Bhavan.
While it is a new venture for J.K. Bhandari and N.K. Pradhan, it is a homecoming for Sonam Dorjee, a founder-member of the SDF. Dorjee quit after his rival from Bara-Pathing, Ram Lepcha, was taken into the SDF fold.
It was learnt that the three MLAs had asked for separate seats during the last Assembly sittings.
The camp-switch will pull up the strength of the SDF to 31 in the 32-seat Assembly.
That leaves Nar Bahadur Bhandari as the lone Opposition member in the state.
Bhandari’s SSP had won seven seats in the 1999 Assembly elections. Four legislators defected immediately after the elections leaving Bhandari with J. K. Bhandari, Dorjee and Pradhan.
The trio shifted camp later. Bhandari’s SSP had set a record sweeping all 32 seats during the 1989 general elections.
According to sources, a Cabinet shuffle was also on the cards of the ruling party. Gooroong has, however, ruled out the possibility of a shuffle in the portfolios. Rejecting it as “a figment of imagination”, he said the party had no such plans of a change at the moment.
“This must be the work of someone having vested interests in the party,” he said.
