Architect Kailash Pradhan, 60, an Independent candidate in the Sikkim Assembly polls, has been found distributing envelopes.

“Tara lifa ma paisa chaina (but there is no money to be found in the envelope),” said a resident of Upper Tadong, the Assembly segment from where Pradhan is contesting.

Lifa (envelope) during elections for many would mean cash for the vote. Kailash is distributing envelopes not to buy votes but to seek votes through conscience as it is his election symbol, too. "The lifa contains our election story, the print size of which is similar to a currency note," said Pradhan.

A well-known architect from Gangtok and an alumnus of St Paul’s, Darjeeling, Pradhan wants to change the “political culture” of Sikkim and minimise the “use of money” in elections.

“The play of money in elections is the root cause of all malaises in governance,” said Pradhan.

The architect’s decision to talk about real issues creates a buzz in Gangtok.

The “manifesto” of the Independent candidate is not a list of promises like those of other political parties.

“Kailash is coming up with visual presentations on urban planning and how to tackle issues like traffic congestion, complete with all aspects, including funding and operational costs,” said a follower of Pradhan. “It is different from other campaigns.”

The architect has a small group which is helping in his campaign. “The team consists of my friends, movie-makers and artists,” said Pradhan.

The team likes to term its campaign as “guerilla warfare”, reaching out to targeted audiences silently and swiftly.

The Independent candidate hit the headlines as an activist in 2020 when he wrote to the chief justice of Sikkim High Court about the felling of trees in the heart of the town.

The court did take cognisance of the complaint.

“I was born here and have lived most of my life in Gangtok. I have seen it grow from a small town to the sprawling urban jungle as it is today. Our beautiful city with unlimited potential faces numerous problems to which there seems to be no solution. Being a senior architect, I cannot make peace with it,” said Pradhan. “Considering the lackadaisical attitude of the government, I could see no other option but to shoulder this responsibility.

His efforts are being lauded. His video campaigns are generating almost 1 lakh views on social media, the number being significant in a state of 4.6 lakh votes.

“My campaign seems to have gathered traction in the past five-six days, people are responding positively but you never know how a person’s mind works. Will have to wait till the results are out,” said Pradhan.

Sikkim votes on April 19.