Patkar has 'always been against the development and prosperity of the country' and her recent visit to Sikkim during which she voiced her opposition to the hydel projects, including one at Dzongu was 'politically motivated' at the instance of the opposition parties and their leaders, the SDF said in a release here.

Her meeting with the activists of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) smacked of political conspiracy at the instance of the opposition parties with an intention to tarnish the image of the Himalayan state, it said.

The ruling party also questioned the expertise of the social activists and the spearhead of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) to question the viability of the Dzongu Hydel Project and said that she was neither a historian nor an expert on the environment-related issues.

On Patkar's charges that the state government led by Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was insensitive to the grievances of the ACT on Dzongu Hydel project, the party said that the state government had held several rounds of dialogue with the Lepcha protesters.