Bhaichung Bhutia loses election to SKM's R D Dorjee in Barfung assembly seat

Gangtok: Former India Football captain and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) vice president Bhaichung Bhutia lost the Barfung Assembly constituency in Namchi district to SKM's Rikshal Dorjee Bhutia on Sunday.

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidate bagged 8,358 votes while Bhutia got 4,012 votes.

The Citizen Action Party - Sikkim candidate in the Barfung constituency Dadul Lepcha got 656 votes while BJP nominee Tashi Dadul Bhutia received only 298 votes.

Bhaichung Bhutia joined the SDF before the Sikkim Assembly elections. He also merged the erstwhile Hamro Sikkim Party with the SDF.

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) on Sunday returned to power in the Himalayan state for the second consecutive term by a landslide victory, winning 31 seats in the 32-member assembly.

The opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the state for 25 years in a row till 2019, could manage only one seat, though its president Pawan Kumar Chamling lost in the two constituencies he contested.