Sikkim: Pawan Chamling in fray from two assembly seats to seek ninth term as MLA

Gangtok: Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) president Pawan Kumar Chamling is contesting from two assembly constituencies this election to seek a record ninth term as an MLA.

The former five-term chief minister is in the fray from Poklok-Kamrang and Namcheybung assembly seats in Namchi and Gangtok districts respectively, dumping his traditional seat of Namchi-Singhithang in Namchi district.

The 73-year-old politician is locked in a quadrangular contest in Poklok-Kamrang, where he is pitted against BJP's Arun Rai, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha's Bhoj Raj Rai and Sanju Rai of Citizen Action Party-Sikkim (CAP-S).

In Namcheybung assembly constituency too, the SDF chief is in a quadrangular contest against two women candidates, Pooja Sharma (BJP) and Severine Rai (CAP-S), and former bureaucrat Raju Basnet.

There are 16,792 voters in Poklok-Kamrang constituency, with women (8,458) outnumbering men (8,333), while Namecheybung has 16,313 electors, of whom 8,282 are women and 8,031 are men.

In an illustrious political career spanning four decades, the veteran SDF leader has not lost a single election since 1985 when he had won Damthang assembly constituency as a Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) candidate.

He had won from Damthang again in 1989 on an SSP ticket before floating his own political party, SDF, following irreconcilable differences with party chief and the then chief minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari.

Chamling went on to win Damthang in 1994, 1999 and 2004 as an SDF nominee before contesting from two assembly constituencies, Namchi-Singhithang and Poklok-Kamrang, in 2009.

Having emerged victorious from both constituencies, he retained Poklok-Kamrang seat and vacated Namchi-Singhithang.

In 2014 too, the then chief minister contested from Poklok-Kamrang and Rangang-Yangang assembly constituencies and won both before vacating the latter.

In 2019, the SDF supremo again contested from two seats, Poklok-Kamrang and Namchi-Singhithang, and vacated Poklok-Kamrang seat from where his archrival Prem Singh Tamang, who had led the SKM to power earlier that year, won in a by-election.

In this election, Chamling is highlighting issues such as the protection of Article 371(F) of the Constitution, which provides special status to Sikkim and protects its old laws, and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the strategically located Himalayan state to ensure development and prosperity of the people.

Simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held in Sikkim in the first phase on April 19.