A big upset has been witnessed in the Sikkim assembly elections. Pawan Kumar Chamling, the five-time Chief Minister of the state, has suffered a crushing defeat. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that Chamling has not been able to reach the assembly. He has suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Prem Singh Tamang, his disciple turned long-time rival.
In the results of the Sikkim assembly elections that came on Sunday, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) won 31 out of 32 seats. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) got only one seat. 73-year-old SDF chief Chamling contested on two seats and lost on both.
The decline had begun five years ago
According to a PTI report, Chamling, who was once vocal about the state's issues, began to suffer political downfall five years ago. In the 2019 assembly elections, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha ended Chamling's 25-year rule in one stroke. Soon after this, he suffered another major setback when 10 SDF MLAs joined the BJP and two MLAs joined the SKM.
Party leaders and workers also left
Due to the defection of MLAs, only Chamling remained from the SDF in the assembly. Before the elections, SKM and BJP had wooed a large number of SDF workers at the grassroots level. Even the joining of former Indian football captain Baichung Bhatia in the SDF did not improve the party's prospects and the leaders kept changing parties.
He was the CM of Sikkim for 25 years
Regarding Chamling, let us tell you that he was the Chief Minister of Sikkim for about 25 years. Chamling's stature in Sikkim politics can be gauged from the fact that he remained the Chief Minister of the state for more than Jyoti Basu's 23-year tenure. Basu was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000. Like Basu, Chamling brought his party to power five times from 1994 to 2019.
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