SSP gets EC's nod on party's status and symbol

The dissident Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) leaders have got a shot in the arm with the Election Commission of India accepting the party's status as a regional outfit and permitting it to retain its original symbol, elephant.

The party's status as a regional outfit and its original elephant symbol was accepted by the EC as per its order dated March 16, Working President of the SSP Rajendra Upreti told reporters here yesterday.

The SSP had been passing through a phase of uncertainty regarding its existence ever since its founder president and former chief minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari joined the Congress last year and urged the EC to derecognise the party and freeze its symbol.

Informing the media of the EC's decision a visibly happy Upreti who led the group of dissident SSP leaders in the state yesterday said it was time for the SSP now to legally stake its claim on all the property that belonged to the party including the Sangram Bhawan which now houses the office of the Pradesh Congress Commitee led by Bhandari.

Talking of the coming elections Upreti said the party was planning to contest all the 32 assembly seats as well as the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state.

He, however, added that the party had so far kept its options open on allying with like-minded political parties barring the Congress.