BJP, SDF to contest Assembly and LS polls unitedly in Sikkim

The BJP on Tuesday said it would contest the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections jointly with the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front.

The BJP on Tuesday said it would contest the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections jointly with the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front in the Himalayan state.

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"SDF, an NDA ally at the Centre, has agreed in principle to have an electoral alliance with the BJP in view of the coming polls, but seat sharing and other related issues will be discussed between the two parties later," BJP's national vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal, and in-charge of the party's affairs in Sikkim, Sunil Shastri, told a joint press conference.

The two BJP leaders, who held talks with Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on Monday to explore possibilities of an electoral alliance with the SDF, described the negotiations as 'fruitful' but did not divulge how many seats they wanted to contest in the coming Assembly polls.

The BJP leaders clarified that seat sharing between the two parties will be mainly in view of the Assembly polls as there is just one Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim.

A seat-sharing formula will be finally worked out by the SDF and state BJP leaders after a meeting of the SDF on Wednesday, Shastri said.

The BJP, which has been contesting elections in Sikkim since 1994, is yet to open its account in the state.