The former opposition party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), led by its firebrand leader Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as PS Golay, ended Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling's 25-year rule in the border state after a close contest.
Of the state’s 32 seats, Golay’s SKM won 17 seats, leaving the chief minister and his Sikkim Democratic Front, which won 15 seats, stunned. The counting of votes for the 32 seats concluded late Thursday night.
The 68-year-old outgoing chief minister can take some solace in winning both the Poklok-Kamrang seat and the Namchi Singhithang seat, on his way to a record eighth term as a legislator.
His ministerial colleague DT Lepcha also entered the state legislature from two seats – Martam Rumtek and Gnathang-Machong. Other ministers – Ugen T. Gyatso Bhutia and N K Subba – also romped home from the Tumin-lingi and Maneybong-dentam assembly constituencies.
Minister Garjman Gurung, however, lost the election from the Khamdong-Singtam seat.
Key Parties That Contested
The main parties in Sikkim's politics are the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) , Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), Congress, and footballer-turned-politician Baichung Bhutia’s Humro Sikkim Party (HSP).
The dominant party has been the SDF, which has been ruling since 1996. The Indian National Congress has won from the Lok Sabha seat only once in 1977 – the first elections Sikkim took part in after becoming a part of India was in 1975. The Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling is from the SDF party, and has been in office for 25 years now.
The main opposition party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), is part of the BJP’s North East Development Alliance (NEDA).
Pawan Chamling Was in Power for 25 Years
Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had been in power for 25 years now and surpassed the record set by the late Jyoti Basu to become the longest-serving chief minister.
The 68-year-old won the 2014 elections with a two-third majority. However, the vote share of his party, the SDF, had been declining over the last three elections.
Chamling was contesting from the Namchi-Singhithang constituency in south Sikkim, which elected him with a 14.2 percent margin in 2014.
With the opposition party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), declaring that they had forged an alliance with the BJP for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the SDF faced a tough fight.
National Parties Lack Strong Presence
From Lendhup Dorjee Kazi's Sikkim National Congress (SNC) to Pawan Kumar Chamling's SDF, Sikkim has the distinction of being ruled by regional parties since it became India's 22nd state after merging in 1975.
Since that time, the regional political parties have been playing an important role in the state's developmental process. The regional parties, especially SDF, have been able to mobilise the traditional communities into politics.
The fear of negligence by national parties has also been one of the reasons why people always supported one or the other regional political parties in the state.
“I think no national political party is being able to fully convince the people of Sikkim on local issues. The sentiments and trust of the people of Sikkim are still with the regional parties.”Dichen Lepcha, a government employee from Tadong in East Sikkim.
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