SKM back to power in Sikkim with thumping win

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) led by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Sunday returned to power in the Himalayan state for the second consecutive term with a clean sweep of 31 seats in the 32-member assembly.

 

Tamang won from Rhenock seat by over 7,000 votes. 

 

The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the state for 25 years till 2019, bagged just one seat, Elections Commission officials said.

 

SDF president and former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling lost from the two seats he contested.

 

Elections to the assembly were held simultaneously with the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 19. 

 

This is a convincing win for Tamang, who is also known as PS Golay and a major achievement for someone who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2016 in charges of corruption.

 

 The SKM had defeated the SDF narrowly in the 2019 Assembly polls, winning only 17 seats.