Elections 2024 updates: SKM once again taken control over Sikkim

As to the Election Commission, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha emerged victorious in the assembly votes, securing 31 out of 32 seats, and regaining power in the Himalayan state.

SKM wins 31 of the 32 seats up for grabs in the Sikkim assembly elections; chief minister PS Tamang attributes the party’s resounding triumph to the hard work and faith of its cadres. With a landslide victory in the assembly elections, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has once again taken control of the state. They did this by winning 31 of the 32 seats. Chief Minister of Sikkim and head of the SKM party Prem Singh Tamang has won the Rhenock constituency handily, defeating his opponent Som Nath Poudyal of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) by a margin of 7,044 votes.

Tamang attributes the party’s resounding triumph to the hard work and faith of its cadres.In an interview with the media during the festivities at the party headquarters in Gangtok, Tamang thanked the people of Sikkim and recognized the dedication of his party employees. “It’s a democracy, but Pawan Kumar Chamling lost badly in 2019 alone. In five years, we completed the work that took them 25 years to complete. Voting has taken place based on that,”  according to Tamang.

In contrast, the SDF has only been successful in winning the Shyari constituency. In the race for the Poklok assembly seat, SKM nominee Bhoj Raj Rai defeated former chief minister and SDF supremo Pawan Kumar Chamling by a margin of 3,063 votes. 

On April 19, elections to the Sikkim Assembly were conducted concurrently with the Lok Sabha elections.There is just one constituency where the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) is leading. Strict security measures were in place as the vote counting got underway on Sunday at six in the morning.

Prior to his precipitous downfall, Chamling skillfully oversaw Sikkim’s chief ministerial administration for almost 25 years, surpassing the 23-year term of the late Jyoti Basu, the chief minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.