Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, 2009

Sikkim Assembly Elections 2009

30 April 2009

All 32 Assembly Constituencies Turnout 83.78%[1] [2]   Majority party Minority party   Leader Pawan Kumar Chamling Nar Bahadur Bhandari Party SDF INC Alliance UPA UPA Leader since 1994 Leader's seat Poklok-kamrang none Last election 2004 2004 Seats before 31 1 Seats won 32 0 Seat change +1 -1 Popular vote 165,991 69,612 Percentage 65.91% 27.64% Swing -5.18% +1.51%

Sikkim District Map

CM before election Pawan Kumar Chamling SDF CM-elect Pawan Kumar Chamling SDF

The Sikkim Legislative Assembly election of 2009 took place in April 2009, concurrently with the Indian general election, 2009. The elections were held in the state for all 32 legislative assembly seats along with third phase of Indian general elections, 2009 on 30 April 2009. The results were declared 5 May 2009. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) further strengthened their majority in the Sikkim Assembly by winning all the seats. Incumbent Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling's Government returned for an unprecedented fourth consecutive term having won previous elections in 1994, 1999 and 2004.

Previous Assembly

In the Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, 2004, the SDF almost had a clean-sweep winning 31 of the 32 seats in the state. Congress was the only other party to win any seats, winning the Sangha seat that is reserved for the monks and nuns of Sikkim's many monasteries. P.K. Chamling led SDF had already formed the previous two Governments in Sikkim having first formed the Government after the 1994 election, when they won 19 seats within a year of the party being formed),^[3] and then again after the 1999 election, when they increased their tally to 24 seats.^[4] Chamling's third term began on May 21, 2004 when he and his 11cabinate ministers were sworn in by the then Governor of Sikkim V. Rama Rao.^[5]

Background

With the tenure of the Sikkim Assembly scheduled to expire on May 23, 2009, the Election Commission of India announced^[6] on March 2, 2009 that the elections to the Sikkim Assembly would be held at the same time as the general election. Sikkim voted in the third phase of the 5-phase national election.

Though SDF had provided external support to Manmohan Singh's Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre since 2004, the SDF and Congress were the main political opponents in Sikkim. Ironically, the Congress was led in the state by Nar Bahadur Bhandari, mentor and former colleague of Chamling.

In this election UDF was formed by coalition of BJP, INC and few other parties, which was thrown into disarray with its constituents appearing to go separate.

Schedule of election

Poll Event	Dates
Announcement & Issue of Press Note	Monday, 02 Mar 2009
Issue of Notification	Thursday, 02 Apr 2009
Last Date for filing Nominations	Thursday, 09 Apr 2009
Scrutiny of Nominations	Friday, 10 Apr 2009
Last date for withdrawal of Candidature	Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Date of Poll	Thursday, 30 Apr 2009
Counting of Votes on	Saturday, 16 May 2009
Date of election being completed	Saturday, 23 May 2009
Constituencies Polling on this day	32
Source: Election Commission of India[6]

Location of Sikkim in India

Parties and candidates

Party Type	Code	Party Name	Number of candidates	Total
National Parties	BJP	Bharatiya Janata Party	11	57
	CPM	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	3
	INC	Indian National Congress	32
	NCP	Nationalist Congress Party	11
State Parties	SDF	Sikkim Democratic Front	32	32
Unrecognised or Unregistered Parties	SGPP	Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party	27	53
	SHRP	Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad	20
	SJEP	Sikkim Jan-Ekta Party	6
Independents	n/a	Independents	25	25
Total:				167
Source: Election Commission of India[7]

Results

Government formation

The SDF went from strength to strength and this time won even the single seat that had eluded them in 2004. With a clean sweep of all 32 seats in the state, Chamling was sworn in for his fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister by Governor B.P. Singh at the Gangtok Raj Bhawan on May 20, 2009. This Government included Neeru Sewa and Tilu Gurung who became the first ever women Cabinet ministers in Sikkim.

Number of seats

Source: Election Commission of India

Party	Flag	Seats Won	Seats Change	Popular Vote	Vote Share	Swing
Sikkim Democratic Front		32	+1	165,991	65.91%	-5.18%
Indian National Congress		0	-1	69,612	27.64%	+1.51%

Successful candidates

The members of sixth legislative assembly are listed below^[8][9]

No.	Constituency	Member	Party
1	Yoksam- Tashiding (BL)	A P Sharma	SDF
2	Yangthang	B B Rai	SDF
3	Maneybong Dentam	B Dhungel	SDF
4	Gyalshing Barnyak	B K Rai	SDF
5	Rinchenpong	B S Panth	SDF
6	Daramdin	C B Karki	SDF
7	Soreng Chakung	C M Subba	SDF
8	Salghari Zoom (SC)	D B Thapa	SDF
9	Barfung (BL)	D L Lepcha	SDF
10	Poklok Kamrang	D N Bhutia	SDF
11	Namchi Singhithang	D N Thakarpa	SDF
12	Melli	K T Gyaltsen	SDF
13	Namthang Rateypani	L Lepcha	SDF
14	Temi Namphing	M B Dahal	SDF
15	Rangang Yangang	M Cintury	SDF
16	Tumin Lingee (BL)	Menlom Lepcha	SDF
17	Khamdong Singtam	N K Pradhan	SDF
18	West Pendam (SC)	Neru Sewa	SDF
19	Rhenok	P Gurung	SDF
20	Chujachen	P L Subba	SDF
21	Gnathang Machong (BL)	P S Tamang	SDF
22	Namchwybong	P T Bhutia	SDF
23	Shyari (BL)	Pawan Chamling	SDF
24	Martam Rumtek (BL)	R B Subba	SDF
25	Upper Tadong	S G Bhutia	SDF
26	Arithang	S G Lepcha	SDF
27	Gangtok (BL)	T D Rai	SDF
28	Upper Burtuk	T Gurung	SDF
29	Kabi Lungchuk (BL)	T Sherpa	SDF
30	Djongu (BL)	T T Bhutia	SDF
31	Lachen Mangan (BL)	T W Lepcha	SDF
32	Sangha	U T Gyatso	SDF

See also

• State Assembly elections in India, 2009
• Indian general election in Sikkim, 2009
• Assembly election results of Sikkim

References

1. "ECI Analysis - Assembly Election". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
2. SDF is being marked as part of UPA for the purpose of this Infobox since they provide support to the UPA Government at the centre. However, they are not officially part of the UPA and did not fight the Sikkim election alongside the UPA"All my State wants is justice: Chamling". The Hindu. 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
3. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1994 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
4. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1999 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
5. Dam, Marcus (2009-05-21). "Will strive to remove urban, rural disparities: Chamling". The Hindu. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
6. "General Elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
7. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/AE2009/Stats_SK_April2009.pdf
8. Members of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly
9. Telephone directory, Government of Sikkim