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Chamling denies giving letter of support to Congress
The SDF President said that they had only sent a letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi congratulating her for her victory in elections.
Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) President and state Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, who assumed powers in the state for the third consecutive term on Friday, denied that his party had formally submitted a letter of support to the Congress-led coalition at the Centre.
A section of the press in Gangtok had reported recently that SDF had sent its emissaries to New Delhi to hand over the party's letter of support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
"We have only sent a letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi congratulating her for her victory in the elections," Chamling told reporters soon after being sworn in on Friday.
He, however, said SDF had always been pursuing the policy of giving support to whichever party forms the Government at the Centre.
"We have been supporting the party in power at the Centre as a matter of policy since we are a small state and can't afford to survive without necessary grants and assistance from New Delhi," he said, but quickly denied that SDF had formally given its letter of support to the Congress.
The SDF had given unconditional support to the Vajpayee Government.
Sikkim has only one seat in the Lok Sabha which has gone to SDF for the last three consecutive elections.
The party's nominee Nakul Das Rai made it to the Lok Sabha in the recent polls after defeating Congress' Biraj Adhikari by about 1,25000 votes.
Chamling also reiterated his commitment to give a development-oriented Government to the people of the state as in the past.
"Development has been our sole agenda for the last two terms and it will continue to be so even during the next five years," he said.
Asked whether or not the rout of the opposition Congress in Sikkim in the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls was a bad omen for democracy in the state, Chamling quipped "After all, it is the mandate of the people and we have got to accept it. It is the people who have rejected the opposition not me."
Chamling-led SDF put up a spectacular performance this time winning 31 out of 32 assembly seats besides bagging the single Lok Sabha seat in the Himalayan state.
