Sikkim: SKM returns to power by capturing 31 out of 32 seats

GANGTOK-  The ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has returned to power in the state with a resounding victory, securing a landslide win by capturing 31 out of 32 seats in the assembly elections.

Prem Singh Tamang, the Chief Minister of Sikkim and leader of the SKM party, has emerged victorious in the Rhenock constituency, securing a decisive win over his Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) rival Som Nath Poudyal by a margin of 7,044 votes.

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Speaking to the media during the celebration at the party office in Gangtok, Tamang expressed gratitude to the people of Sikkim and acknowledged the hard work of his party workers.

“Pawan Kumar Chamling lost completely in 2019 only but it’s a democracy. The work they couldn’t do in 25 years, we did it in five years. People have voted on that basis,” Tamang said.

Chamling, who was Sikkim’s chief minister for 25 years from 1994 to 2019, a record in India, lost from Namcheybong and Poklok-Kamrang, the two constituencies he contested, by 3,063 and 2,256 votes respectively.

Raju Basnet, a former bureaucrat, won the Namcheybong seat while the Poklok-Kamrang seat went to SKM’s Bhojraj Rai.

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The SDF, meanwhile, has only managed to secure a win from the Shyari constituency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which shares a friendly relationship with SKM, drew a blank and so did the newly formed Citizen Action Party (CAP) although it drew crowds during campaign.

BJP state president D R Thapa lost from the Upper Burtuk seat while voters at Melli rejected Ganesh Kumar Rai, CAP’s chief ministerial candidate.