The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) stands at a position of strength in Sikkim, leading 16 out of the 32 seats. Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling looks set to return to power for a record sixth term, leading by 1,000 votes at Namchi-Singhithang. Chamling also continues to lead in Poklok-Kamrang, his home constituency in South Sikkim. SKM, meanwhile, presently leads in seven seats, hinting at an outcome that may be similar to the 2014 results. With a minimum of 17 seats required to form government, SDF looks to be on course for yet another victory, continuing their run in the state to nearly three decades. Campaigning by national giants BJP and INC seem to have proved fruitless, and so has Bhaichung Bhutia-led newcomers, Hamro Sikkin Party (HSP). Voting for electing the state government was held in Sikkim at the very first phase on April 11, with a total of 150 candidates battling it out in 32 constituencies.
SDF has enjoyed overwhelming stronghold for 25 years now, with the Sikkim Chief Minister and the party’s founder-president Pawan Kumar Chamling presently being India’s longest serving Chief Minister for any state, after independence. The party looks set to continue its rule in Sikkim for another five years, and despite showing early promise, prospects for principal opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and the rising Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) look bleak at the moment. SDF’s candidate Dek Bahadur Katwal is also leading in Sikkim’s only Lok Sabha seat, as of now.
Here are the latest developments from the state: 1. SDF leads the Sikkim Legislative Assembly in 16 seats, with incumbent CM Pawan Kumar Chamling set to win the Namchi-Singhithang seat and standing at a lead of about 1,000 votes right now. Chamling is also leading at his home constituency, Poklok-Kamrang. 2. SKM has taken the lead in seven of the 32 seats, while fellow opposition and newcomers HSP are behind in all seats. The BJP and INC have also failed to make any headway in Sikkim. No independent candidate has managed to pull off any upset, either.
3. If the leads convert into victory, SDF stands at the cusp of returning to power yet again. This will mark the sixth term as CM for Pawan Kumar Chamling, who already holds the record for the longest-serving Chief Minister of any state in independent India.
4. The Sikkim election office reported a total of 4,32,306 eligible voters in the state, and eventual turnout of 78.19 percent, which albeit high, is lower than the 83.85 percent voter turnout recorded during the 2014 elections.
5. A total of 150 candidates have contested for the 32 Assembly seats, with the 17 seats required to form the new government. Alongside SDF, prime opposition SKM and newcomers HSP, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) are also looking to make inroads in Sikkim for the first time in history.
6. The BJP had initially struck a strategic alliance with SKM to take on the might of SDF in Sikkim. The alliance broke down soon after it was publicly announced, following which the BJP blamed SKM for having “chickened out at the last minute without giving any reasons,” as per a PTI report.
7. Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as P.S Golay, was a minister in the Chamling-led government, before being convicted in a cattle distribution scam. He was subsequently forced to relinquish his Legislative Assembly membership, and serve a one-year imprisonment term.
8. Indian footballing legend and ex-national team captain, Bhaichung Bhutia, has led the formation and promotion of Hamro Sikkim Party. The party is headed by 35-year-old Dr. Beena Basnett, an MBBS graduate.
9. Both the SKM and HSP have accused the SDF of blatantly corrupt practices, charging that the incumbent government is using its amassed financial might to draw away senior party members by brute force.
10. While the SDF had won a record 32 out of 32 Assembly seats in 2009, the SKM hit a considerable dent in the SDF’s tally in 2014, when it won 10 out of the 32 seats in the state.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)
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