Rahul can't understand Sikkim in mere 20 minutes: Chamling

Gangtok,27 April¬:Coming down heavily on Rahul Gandhi for his caustic observation about Sikkim, Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling today said the Congress General Secretary cannot understand the Himalayan state and its local issues in barely 20 minutes.
"He does not understand Sikkim and the issues of the state. One cannot comprehend the issues in 20 minutes," Chamling told reporters here in reply to a question about Gandhi's comments on the state of affairs in the Himalayan State, two days back.

Chamling said the 39 year-old MP's assessment that the state government had failed to fully utilise about Rs 5,500 crore granted by the Centre in past years and could not implement the central schemes like NREGA, were not true.

Sikkim has been one of the states to fully utilize the Central funds and implement the Central schemes, he claimed.

On the impact of Gandhi's electioneering in Sikkim, Chamling said the SDF has been firmly entrenched in the state politically and could not be adversely affected by the campaigning by the national leaders of other parties.