Hamro Sikkim Party, floated by football icon-turned-politician Baichung Bhutia in February 2018, will make its electoral debut on April 11. Sikkim has simultaneous polling바카라”HSP will contÂest all 32 assembly seats. Baichung himself, brimful with talk of change, will contest the sole Lok Sabha seat in the state. Excerpts from an interview with Jeevan Prakash Sharma:
Are you looking for a tie-up with any national party?
A: No. We are a young new party, we need to build it strong. So we want to go it alone for both assembly as well as the Lok Sabha.
After retirement, you바카라™d joined Trinamool in 2013 and contested twice on its ticket바카라”from Darjeeling (LS 2014) and Siliguri (2016 assembly polls). You lost both. Didn바카라™t that deter you from politics?
I lost because I was an outsider in West Bengal. That바카라™s not the case now. I was born in Sikkim. I have my roots here.
You are challenging Pawan Kumar Chamling, India바카라™s longest-serving CM, in offÂice since 1994. Isn바카라™t that quite a mountain to climb?
Not at all. In politics, there is always something beyÂond what you see. He바카라™s been there so long because there was no strong opposition. That바카라™s not the case this time. HSP will give him a tough fight and make a very good impact바카라¦it바카라™s a clean party with credible people. Our major issues are corruption, jobs, lack of education and infrastructure. They바카라™re a highly corrupt political class. Sikkim is looking for an alternative and I바카라™m very confident we바카라™ll be the first choice.
You think BJP is trying to take political advantage out of Pulwama?
Yes, it should not happen. To be honest, any other party would have done the same thing. We all talk about elections free of corruption, communal hatred, distribution of alcohol/money etc, but reality is just the opposite. Parties in power resort to any means to stay in power. The same is the case here. Pakistan shouldn바카라™t be the issue. Army shouldn바카라™t be the issue. It should be unemployment, corruption, farmers바카라™ plight.
Anything common between football and politics?
Yes. You need to have a strongly bonded core team in both, more so in politics. You really don바카라™t focus more on the opponent but on building a strong, strategically aware team.
