Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has urged people to guard against the communal forces active in Sikkim, in a veiled attack on the BJP which is seeking to make inroads in the Himalayan state ahead of assembly polls next year.
"We have been educating and enlightening our people on communal forces that are active nowadays. But it seems people still continue to be misled and misguided by such forces whose only aim is to create divisions in the name of caste and religion for their own personal gains," he told a public meeting in West Sikkim last evening.
He posted his speech on Facebook today.
Without naming BJP, Chamling said that he has been urging the local people to be vigilant against those posing a threat to peace and communal harmony in Sikkim.
"Our youths in particular must remain vigilant of such people who are a threat to peace and communal harmony prevailing in our state. They should realise that our government has been serving the state and the people with only one agenda - that is development of the state and welfare and well-being of the people," he added.
Chamling, who otherwise has strong personal relations with top BJP and RSS leaders, has been wary of the saffron party's move to contest the next assembly polls and has roped in disgruntled leaders of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front.
BJP national general secretary and North-East in-charge Ram Madhav had months ago mocked SDF as the "Sikkim Dictatorial Front".
Madhav had also attacked Chamling's party for presiding over a corrupt government in Sikkim and said that BJP and like-minded parties will work together to defeat SDF at the hustings next year.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)