(1) Democracy shall be preserved and safe-guarded: The Sikkimese have had to pay a very high price, indeed, for democracy when they were called upon to sacrifice the very freedom of their tiny country in exchange for what they believed was the right kind of freedom that democracy would bring for them. But the same freedom, however priceless it may have been, has now gone with the wind when Nar Bahadur Bhandari, heading a elected government now running at the fag end of the third term in office, has ruthlessly wiped out the last vestige of democratic rule by making his edicts the law of the land. The kind of democracy we are talking about is secular democracy, pure and simple. People of all communities, faiths, and persuations have equal rights in our polity. We strongly oppose communal and casteist issues being brought into political process for electoral gains. We are commited to provide political, social and economical justice to all Sikkimese irrespective of caste, creed, religion and community - something that do not exist nOW under the present dispensation.

(2) Decentralisation of Power (Administrative)
 So far we have witnessed a spate of one-man in all "administrative affairs of the government. This power monopoly will be dismantled and de-centralised to reach people at the grassroots. The success of all programmes undertaken by the various departments in the government requir~heir integrated implementation. These programmes should always be responsive to local needs. For this, local planning becomes the instrument and the agency has to be the Panchayati raj. Hence the power that has become centralised at various points in the government .will undergo rapid de-centralisation process whereby power will be delegated to be people at the grassroot level to reach the Panchayats in villages who will become the active arms of the government.

(3) Corruptions in any form will be eradicated.
Corruptions run deep and rampant in all aspects of governance in the State where none remains untouched by this widely accepted vice. All necessary stringent steps will be taken to eradicate corruption by taking suitable and drastic action against all who are found guilty of the crime.

(4) An Academy will be set up:In order to advance the causeof various dialects, languages and cultures with which the State is endowed, this Party is committed to set up an Academy that is equipped with every facility for research in its drive to protect, nurture and develop this rich heritage that manifests itself in the language, dialect and culture that go to intensify the State's ethnic mosaic. The 'Nepali Sahitya Academy' that has so far been functioning independently will become merged with State Academy when it comes into existence.

(5) Economic interests and well-being of the deprived section of the populace will be promoted and safeguarded.
The present government in power has entrusted the economic fate of the Sikkimese in the hands of Baniyas and Lalajis and the masses in turn stand ruthlessly exploited. This Party in power will take all necessary steps to usher in an era of all-round prosperity for the Sikimese through positive and people-oriented policies and programmes. The government's role will be considerably enhanced in the area which impinges on the lives pf the majority poor who are the oppressed and the under-privileged and for whom life has traditionally been an endless drudgery. As the Party of the poor and the downtroddens, it is this theme that will remain our major area of concern, thrust and activity.

(6) The constitution shall be upheld and held in veneration at all times while all laws and regulations formulated prior to the signing of May- 8 Agreement shall be preserved and safe-guarded:The Front government in harness will be totally committed to protect and uphold Article 371 (F) of the Constitution as this Article fully guarantees the rights and privileges accruing to all three ethnicities namely, Bhutia, Lepcha and Nepalese residing in Sikkim. Therefore, it will become the bounden duty of the Front government to safe-guard and protect the security as enjoined in the said Article to all three ethnicities of Sikkim. All laws and By-laws enacted prior to merger of Sikkim, like Revenue Order No : 1; Sikkim Income Tax Rules 1948, will be given due weightage to ensure that they stand fully protected by the same Article 371 (F).

(7) Problems facing the labour fraternity and the C & D i.e.
 Class III and IV categories of Government employees will be effectively tackled to avail them ofthe benefrts that are long overdue.

(a) Labourers engaged by the department since decades under the Parishad government are still slogging away under muster roll while some of them have been removed from their job without ceremony which is unfair. Those holding Sikkim Subject Certificate and working on muster roll for more than three consecutive years must be considered for regularisation. The daily wages for labourers working on muster roll on temporary basis must be enhanced to Rupees 50/- per day.

(b) Employees working in mills and factories as well as those engaged by transport companie~ are often at the receiving end and yet they cannot voice their grievances openly. All such irregularities will be looked into for necessary action and redress.

(c) Nothing has been done as of 1985 to consider revision of pay-scales and allowances payable to the government employees by setting up the necessary Pay Commission at the State level. Prices of commodities have attained an alltime high whereby the government employees in Class III and IV categories have been hit hardest. All necessary steps will . be taken to ensure that justice is done to the government employees without delay. The Third Pay Commission Report will be furnished at the earliest and all benefits accruing from the Report will be made available to them without let and hindrance.

(d) The scourge of transfer used as a means to victimise those employees who dare to disagree with the politicies of the Parishad government will be outlawed as undemocratic and unconstitutional.

(e) There should be a well-defined basis on which all promotions should be granted where seniority and merit constitute the basic criteria for consideration, and not nepotism and favouristism that should be allowed to guide the exercise as is happening today in the present dispensation. All such evil undemocratic practices will be done away with once this Party is installed at the helms of affairs.

(a) The Central funds allocated for the development of the State will be wisely and constructively utilised for the betterment of Sikkim and the Sikkimese. They(funds) will not be allowed to fatten the linings of those in key places of the government, nor will they go to enrich the coffers of businessmen from outside the State, as it is happening in the present government. Our's Will not be a 'percentage' government like the present one whose sole preoccupation lies in collecting percentage from every contract it makes available to its regular chamchas and hangers-on.

(b) All development aids extended by the Centre will be properly utilised for the purpose of setting up suitable infrastructures that are viably applicable to our needs to help this backward State put its best foot forward.

(c) All enterprising sons of the soil with the right kind of ambition and drive will be provided with all the support they need so that may deliver the goods.

(d) All economic policies and programmes formulated and implemented will be pro-poor and village-oriented for the simple reason that Sikkim as a State that is predominantly composed of numerous villages where the bulk of the population are agriculturists. It is the rural Sikkim that will dominantly figure while the State's econnomic policies are formulated so that there is an integrated development or rural economy which, in essence, will determine the economic destiny of the State as a whole.

(e) Infra-structure for industries based on agriculture will have to be set up. All eforts will be made to procure best quality hybrid seeds, apart from procuring modern machines and agricultural appliances suitable for the hills to augment agricultural production. An overall priority will be given to the economically more vital sectors as irrigation, power and fertilisers to make sure that the rural economy receives its due share of attention and boost.

(f) The government should encourage farmers to cultivate varieties of cash-crops like orange, ginger, cardamum, apple, pears and tea as these commodities are in great demand to fetch lucrative returns. There is again ample scope for floriculture of many varieties that are peculiar to the mountain climate that prevails in Sikkim. There is also a potential prospect for medicinal plants that grow abundantly at high altitudes of the State of which there is hardly any dirth . All such possibilities that are waiting to be discovered and exploited will receive due attention they deserve.

(g) In order to encourage and foster the spirit of enterprise in the area of animal raising, farmers will be facilitated with animals (domestic) of finer variety and breed. Milching cows of finer breeds will be made availbale to farmers free of cost. Milk centres will be set up at suitable locations where the farmers can deliver milk for sale to the government vendors.

(h) An association of sort will be set up for farmers engaged in various forms of agricultural pursuits to bring them under one umbrella. From this association selection will be made of enterprising and able-bodied farmers to be provided with specific training in the vocation they show their aptitude and interest. For such a training they may even by sent abroad to advanced countries like Japan and the USA to obtain specialized training.

(9) The contractual system by which edible vegetables and hard liquors are procured and distributed for public consumption vested interests wiIJ be totally abolished.
All retail vegetable vendors are under compulsion to obtain their quota from vegetable contractors who haul in masses of vegetables from Siliguri to be distributed to retail vendors at monopoly rates and because of which vegeltables in Gangtok are so costly. As a result, all Class III and IV categories of government employees, small businessmenand the people in general are at the receiving end to bear the brunt of what appears like a Mafia that operates in the vegetable market in Gangtok. Ware-houses owned by big businessmen through which all Sikkim liquors find their way to the Sikkimese public have done much to create an identical set of problems for small businessmen and the people alike. All ware-houses that operate today will be closed down in the public interests while contractual system of distributing vegetables to retail shoppers will be abolished to do away with the kind of monopoly that has become a bane of the present regime.

(a) Bhandari's tall talks and lectures he delivers on the need of sound education are well known. And yet in the fifteen years he has remained in power he has miserably failed to set up a Madhyamik Board the State can call its own!! That he is anti-people and anti-Sikkim have been amply established from his utter neglect to provide this basic need. It is for this reason that our schools are affiliated to West Bengals' and Delhi's Boards of examination for both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary. The same thing applies to our colleges in Sikkim. Therefore, we shall strive to establish our own Boards for both the categories of examinations, viz, Madhyamik and Higher Secoundary. Only then we can explore the viability of setting up a University in Sikkim.

(b) The present government in the area of imparting higher training in vitally important subjects like Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, let alone providing facilities for obtaining veterinary training which constitutes an integral part of the two faculties. Politechnical institutes will be set up in the State to provide suitable vocational training for Sikkimese youths to make them self-supporting. Such institutes will provide vocational training of varied callings to ensure that the trainees from these institutes are worthy of responding to the needs by the growing demand for technical hands the country needs today.

(11) The dignity of both teachers and their noble profession will be restored and steps will be taken to ensure their well-being.
 Mr. Bhandari's antipathy for teaching freaternity in the State has been typically illustrative of a tennis ball that is made to bounce from one end of the court to the other end. The noble profession of teaching that does much to despel darkness of ignorance by spreading the light of knowledge must be given its due place in our society. The oppression and persecution of teachers on the basis that they want to uphold certain value-based principles that run counter to the corrupt concepts of a corrupt government, must be stopped at once. This Party will ensure that all facilities that must accrue to them will be made available to them without let or hindrance. The deserving one's will be facilitated with prospects of higher studies and suitable training to enhance their professional dexterity of teaching skill and capability.

(12) Panchayati raj will have to become the instrument for integrated implementation of all development programmes undertaken by the Government.
Since village is the ideal unit for democracy, all Panchayats at the village level will have to become the arms of the government for decentralisation of power so that all developmental programme under taken by the government to respond to the local needs will have direct participation of the Panchayat's office-bearers, representative and members to ensure the success of these programmes. These developmental programmes envisaged for the upliftment of villages should always be responsive to local needs. Local planning has to be the instrument for this and the agency has to be the Panchayati Raj. All elected members and office bearers will be granted allowances and gratis for the responsibility they are discharging towards the functioning of the Panchayats. Utmost care will be taken to see that every Panchayat in the villages is representative of members from all sections of the population and where the place and membership of women are assured. Such a step to revamp the Panchayati system will definitely do away with the kind of 'monkey business' that characterises the current Panchayat and their functioning in the State.

The Panchas elected to their respective posts in the Panchayats in 1993 must be allowed to complete their full terms in office without any let or hindrance.

(13) Sikkimese women and their place in our society will be fully recognised and assured.
We cannot ignore the place of women in our society who consitute half the population of the State. Without their due participation, no society can hope to tread on the path of progress and advancement. The present government in harness has treated Sikkimese women as a mere plaything that can be enjoyed and discarded. Therefore, one cannot help feeling that Sikkimese women have not got their dues which they deserve in the present dispensation. All this will be remedied at the earliest. They will be afforded all facilities and opportunities so they can participate as equal partners with their male counterparts in all spheres of activities - social, political, economic and cultural - to ensure their due place in the sun.

(14) Sikkim must remain exempted from direct Central taxes.
Even after the merger of Sikkim in 1975, it remained exempted from direct Central taxes in view of the terms and conditions laid down in the historic May 8 Agreement entered into between the government of India and the then political Parties of Sikkim prior to the merger of the State. At the time of the merger, Article 371 (F) had, further, been inserted in the Constitution to make some special provisions relating to the administration of Sikkim. The said provisions of Article 371 (F) guarantee that direct Central taxes to Sikkim cannot be extended without the majority consent of the members of the State Legislative Assembly.

In 1987, the Gangtokians were left dumbfounded when the local dailies hit the news-stand. All local dailies had screaming headlines featured right across the front page busting wide open the 'Gift Racket' that had been going on covertly under the Sang ram regime for quite some years, which had succeeded in rendering the Central Revenue department 25,000 crores the poorer. Now, the Centre's decision to exten-d direct taxes to Sikkim comes as a backlash to what proved a most lucrative bonanza for a handful of corrupt politicians and businessmen who are hand-in-gloves to make exorbhitantly high profits at the expense of the country's exchequer.

The Party's plea and stand in this regard is very clear and simple. Stringent action must be taken against all hoarders of black money so that all of them are brought to book. But the average Sikkimese must not be made to pay the price for a crime that was committed by a handful of unscrupulous scoundels. This backward State is not yet ready to welcome direct taxes to add un-called for burdens on its backward populace.

(15) The new generation of Sikkimese youths will be provided with right kind of drive and ambition to awaken in them a value-based and goal-oriented jest for living.
The Parished government in harness has lost its grip on virtually everything that can' provide and guarantee some semblance of order on the moral front of the State's law and order management. As a result, prostitution in the State is on the rise while drug trafficking runs unchecked with the young and the innocent falling prey to its addiction. On the whole, the State in this regard projects a dismal scenario that needs to be remedied without further delay.

Apart from their academic pursuits, the young must be fruitfully engaged in various games and sporting adtivities to make them bodily strong so that they may possess a sound mind in a sound body. In order to keep them mentally active as well, all villages will be provided with appropriate libraries. Auditoriums will be provided at suitable points that can be shared by groups of villages to organise and participate in healthy activities like debates, dramatics and symposiums that can be periodically organised by like-minded heads of local schools in the villages.

No efforts will be spared to build up a generation of sturdy, capable and doggedly determined youths who will receive all the support they need from the State. They will be put through the grind so that they may emerge as worthy citizens of tomorrow, ready to do battle against all odds, because they have had the best of everything - academically, mentally, materially and creatively.

(16) Judiciary will be allowed to function independently in keeping with the spirit and letter of the Constitution.
There should be perfect harmony in the functioning of the judiciary, the executive and the political process that coexist side by side in a democratic set-up for the latter to be effectively functional. This is irrevocably true of all forms of democracies that are obtainable in today's world.

But in the present Sangram regime there have been instances where the lower unit of the State judiciary have been under considerable pressure to serve vested political interests of those in key positions of power. The pristine dignity which the judiciary inherits from the constitution will be restored and kept intact.

(17) Concrete steps will be taken for the development of all regional languages and dialects.
All efforts will be expended for the development and advancement of Nepali, Lepcha, Bhutia and Limbu languages that are popularly spoken by the three communities of Sikkim. To achieve this end, a separate academy for each language will be set up that is distinctly peculiar to its pristine background.

(18) All possible steps will be taken to alleviate the sufferings of orphans, destitutes and the disabled of the State.
All possible help will be extended to the old and infirmed who are without any means of support and shelter. Destitute homes will be established to shelter orphans, infirmed and homeless destitutes and old people without any means of support. Vocational training will be provided to give them suitable means of livelihood.

(19) 'Son of the soil' policy will become rigidly operational in all aspects of Sikkimese life and affairs.
For Bhandari and his henchmen, the 'son of the soil' policy was a mere electioneering ploy which in practice was dumped down the drain as often as it suited them. Bhandari's edicts became law whereby the democratic rights of bonafide Sikkimese were consigned to the flames. The true sons of the soil for Bhandari and his cohorts are the rank outsiders who can provide lucrative percentage for every lucrative contract they wangle from corrupt Bhandari at the expense of the State coffers. This is how he has sold out Sikkim's interests to the outside businessmen who, in return, filled Bhandari's coffers to overflowing.

The sons of the soil policy, as stated above, will become the central theme of all policy frameworks envisaged by the SD.F. government and the Party will be committed to pursue the policy of preserving all democratic rights and privileges of the Sikkimese people with particular reference to this homebread policy that upholds and guarantees the basic rights of all Sikkimese.

(20) Reservation of Nepalese and Tsong seats in the Assembly must be restored as in the days prior to the merger of Sikkim.
As per the May 8 Agreement of 1973 and the Article 371 (F) that came into vogue at the time of Sikkim's merger to make some special provisions relating to the administration of Sikkim have to be brought under focus to ensure that reservation of Nepalese and Tsong seats in the Assembly are duly restored under the special provisions provided by the constitution in the administration of Sikkim. The Sangram Parishad, despite its repeated promises to the people during election time, miserably failed to deliver the goods.

No .stone will be left unturned in our sincere bid to restore the reservation of Nepalese and Tsong seats in the Assembly to guarantee that the rights and privileges as granted by the constitution to all Sikkimese remain safe and intact. The reservation of Nepalese and Tsong seats in the Sikkim Assembly becomes our constitutional rights as clearly implied by the insertion of Article 371 (F) within the framework of the constitution at the time of Sikkim's merger through which the merger exercise itself became a constitutional reality.

(21) The Limbu and Tamang communities residing in Sikkim will be included in the list of Scheduled tribes in justification of their true tribal backround.
Come election time and Mr. Bhandari never missed an opportunity to declare that these two communities must be included in the lists of Scheduled Tribes in the State. This he did time and again to gain electoral support from these two communities. And yet, Bhanda"ri's penchant for maintaining double standard became evident when he notified the government at the Centre not to include these two communities in the list of State's Scheduled Tribes that became known in course of even though how this information got leaked out could never be established.

All necessary steps will be taken to get these communities of the State recognised as Scheduled Tribes so that they may soon be enjoying all the facilities and privileges due to them as tribals of the State.

(22) Political justice to the community of Sherpas in the State is long overdue.
Even though the Sherpas in Sikkim are recognized as Scheduled Tribe, the Sangram regime has taken them for granted despite the fact that there are thousands and thousands of Sherpa electorate who have been regularly participating in every election to assert their place in the State's franchise. The Sherpa community will receive full political justice that has been denied to them by the present SSP government.

(23) All privileges vis-a-vis the concepts of OBCS will become a reality in the State.
The communities of Rai Limbu, Gurung, Mangar, Tamang, Bhujel and Sunuwar were singled out as the OBCs of Sikkim as per the Report submitted by the Mandai Commission. This was later recognized by the Centre as well as the Supreme Court; but the Sangram government led by Bhandari remained totally indifferent to this singularly important development by keeping the whole issue under deep freeze. Not an iota of benefits and privileges were made available to the communities that were included in the list of State's OBCs, as long as Bhandari remained in power. He was openly hostile to the very concepts of OBC and treated the whole idea as a threat to the leadership he had built up over the years.

All necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the communities of Chhetri, Bahun, Newar, Jogi and Thami are included in the list of State's OBCs once the S.D.F. Party takes over the reins of government while all benefits and facilities to the existing OBCs will be made available to them without let and hindrance.

(24) Sikkim will be declared a Tribal State.
The Sikkimese on the whole are backward in all spheres of activities. They are backward not only politically but also culturally, socially and economically when compared with all other States of the Union except those of the North-East.
Hence all efforts will be made to ensure that Sikkim, like all North-Eastern States, is declared a Tribal State.

(a) All North-Eastern States were merged in the national mainstream some twenty years before Sikkim became a part of India in 1975, and yet those North-Eastern States are collectively reaping the benefits that are available to them as members of the North East Council that bind them as one single family. Whereas Sikkim joined the mainstream twenty years later only to remain isolated and deprived of its legitimate share that ought to come Sikkim's way as a more backward State than those in the North East Council. So far as effort to seek Sikkim's membership in the North East Council is concerned} the Parished government has passed a couple of resolutions to that effect, over and above which it does not seem to give two hoots how and when such a goal will materialise. No concrete steps in this direction have been taken by the Parishad outfit to realise this long standing need of the State because of which the whole issue seems lost in the maze of confusion to become a non-starter.

(b) Sikkim is not only backward but it is also the poorest State of the Union in terms of revenue-earning infra-structures which it totally lacks to boost its sagging economy. Hence it becomes a question of very survival for Sikkim that it be included as a member in the august body of the North East Council. All efforts will be expended in this direction to ensure that Sikkim is included as a member of the North East Council so that Sikkim may derive optimum benefit from the merger through copious funds accruing to it that can be utilised for an all-round development of Sikkim.

(26) Communal amity and understanding will be maintained and promoted.
The Sangram government led by Bhandari has often sought to drive a vicious wedge between different communities that have been living since generations in complete communal harmony and people. It has been his consistent policy to divide Sikkim's ethnic groups in order to create an ethnic crisis in this sensitive border state so he can emerge all too powerful to rule over a divided people on casteist and ethnic lines. The time has come for all like-minded Sikkimese to unite under the common umbrella that symbolises the Sikkim Democratic front, the Party of the common masses, and do away once for all with the 'divide and rule' hegemony perpetrated by Bhandari and his Parishad outfit, so that true democracy for the Sikkimese people may be restored and re-established in this tiny State.

(27) Bhandari's misrule in Sikkim has reduced the Sikkimese Nepalese population to the status of immigrants.
When the Supreme Court passed a decree stating that Nepalese of Sikkimese origin are basically immigrants, Mr.
Bhandari did the most bizarre thing imaginable. He went on a celebrating spree on a state-wide basis that lasted full six months in which processions were taken out on the streets as a mark of rejoicing. That the Nepalese of Sikkim alongwith .~ the rest of the ethnic communiti~s (Lepcha and Bhutia) were merged together with Sikkim to become part of the national mainstream is a historical fact none can deny; and that the same Nepalese of Sikkim stand labelled today as immigrants and that too by the highest court of the land raises a spate of doubt and suspicion in the minds of Nepalese that will take a long time to erase from their memory. In this regard, the present Parishad government of Bhandari's is yet to come up with satisfactory explanation as to what stand it has taken against such blasphemy !!

While the reservation of Tribal and Sangha seats is a landmark achievement for Sikkim that will remain fully protected, this Party will leave no stone unturned in its efforts . to mitigate the negative sense of insecurity, suspicion and illfeelings generated by the un-called for use of the word .'Immigrants' vis-a-vis the Nepalese of Sikkim.