Gangtok, 16 December: The Sikkim Pradesh Trinamul Congress staged a day- long dharna outside the district administrative centre today, demanding restoration of the Nepali reserved seats and also reservation of seats for Tsong (Limboo) community that was made Scheduled Tribe along with the Tamang community way back in 2003.
The sit-in was led by the state party president, PT Lucksom, the former deputy chief minister of the state.
Prior to the merger of the former Protectorate State with India, seats were reserved for the Nepali community on a parity
formula envisaged by the Chogyal dispensation.
Both the Bhutia-Lepcha and Nepali communities had 15 seats reserved in the state Assembly.
Reservation for the Nepalese was done away with and the number of reserved seats for the Bhutia-Lepcha community was reduced to 12 during the time the Janata Party government was in power at the Centre.
Mr Lucksom said his party MPs would raise these demands both in the Lok and the Rajya Sabha in the
coming days, adding that these issues would be the main agenda of his party for the upcoming Assembly election. Recently, the Sikkim Pradesh Trinamul Congress had organised a rally,
raising the demand in Gangtok.
The sit-in was led by the state party president, PT Lucksom, the former deputy chief minister of the state.
Prior to the merger of the former Protectorate State with India, seats were reserved for the Nepali community on a parity
formula envisaged by the Chogyal dispensation.
Both the Bhutia-Lepcha and Nepali communities had 15 seats reserved in the state Assembly.
Reservation for the Nepalese was done away with and the number of reserved seats for the Bhutia-Lepcha community was reduced to 12 during the time the Janata Party government was in power at the Centre.
Mr Lucksom said his party MPs would raise these demands both in the Lok and the Rajya Sabha in the
coming days, adding that these issues would be the main agenda of his party for the upcoming Assembly election. Recently, the Sikkim Pradesh Trinamul Congress had organised a rally,
raising the demand in Gangtok.
Source: SNS