Gangtok, May 15: The SDF, which returned to power in Sikkim for the third time in a row making a clean sweep in the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state, today decided to extend its unconditional support to the Congress-led coalition which is likely to form the next government at the Centre.
Talking to reporters at his official residence here today, Chief Minister and party president Pawan Kumar Chamling said the decision has been taken in pursuance of the party's policy of supporting whichever party is in power at the Centre. SDF had given its unconditional support to the Vajpayee government as well.
"We have been supporting the party in power at the Centre because it is necessary for the survival of a small state like Sikkim which has only one seat in the Lok Sabha and depends heavily on central grants," Chamling said.
Besides winning 31 out of a total of 32 assembly seats, the SDF has also got away with the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state polling 74 per cent of the total votes. Chamling said the new government which will have a relatively small 12-member Cabinet in Sikkim will be sworn in on May 21. However, the party has not yet decided the names of the members of the cabinet, he added. Chamling has also sent a letter to outgoing Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee thanking him for all the cooperation extended to the state government in the development of the state. He also congratulated AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on her party's impressive poll performance. Bureau Report