Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) is a regional political party in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

. It was the ruling party in

from 12 December 1994 to 23 May 2019.

History

The party was founded by

Pawan Kumar Chamling Pawan Kumar Chamling (born 22 September 1949) is an Indian politician and the former Chief Minister of Sikkim. Chamling is the Founding President of the Sikkim Democratic Front, which governed the state for five successive terms since 1994. Ch ...

in 1993. It has ruled the Sikkim state from 1994 to 2019 with Pawan Kumar Chamling as the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. The party consolidated its position sweeping the 1999 and 2004 state elections. It won 31 of the 32 assembly seats in the 2004 election. In the 2009 assembly election, the party made a clean sweep, winning all 32 seats. It also retained the lone

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

seat. In 2014 assembly elections, SDF won 22 seats and retained power. In May 2016, after the BJP led NDA formed its first government in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, a new alliance called the

North-East Democratic Alliance The North-East Democratic Alliance or NEDA is a political coalition that was formed on May 24, 2016, by Bharatiya Janata Party. The motive of the new political front was to protect the interest of the people of the region as well as uniting non-Con ...

(NEDA) was formed with BJP leader

Himanta Biswa Sarma Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an Indian politician serving as the 15th and incumbent Chief Minister of Assam. A former member of the Indian National Congress political party. Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 Augus ...

as its convener. The Chief Ministers of the north eastern states of

, Manipur,

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

and

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

too belong to this alliance. Thus, the Sikkim Democratic Front joined the NDA led NEDA.

resigned as CM after

2019 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Sikkim on 11 April 2019 to elect the 32 members of the ninth Legislative Assembly. The term of the ninth Sikkim Legislative Assembly ended on 27 May 2019. Schedule of election Results Results (Pa ...

as former member

Prem Singh Tamang Prem Singh Tamang (born 5 February 1968), better known as P. S. Golay, is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Sikkim and founding leader of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM). Before forming the party, he was a key member of ...

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (translation: ''Sikkim Revolutionary Front'') is a political party in the Indian state of Sikkim which was the ruling party of Sikkim in 2020. P.S. Golay, a former member of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, was one of ...

party formed the government by winning 17 seats out of 32. SDF party won the remaining 15 seats. But in August 2019, 10 MLAs quit his party to join the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and in the same month two other legislators joined

. Thus making

the only MLA of his party.Ten SDF MLAs join BJP: Sikkim may be headed towards Arunachal Pradesh route, as mass crossovers leave ex-CM in the lurch
/ref>

Frontal Organisation

*Youth Wing *Student's Wing *Women's Wing *Labour Wing *Cultivators and Organic Farmers Wing *Ex-servicemen Wing *Scheduled Tribe Welfare Wing *Scheduled Caste Welfare Wing *Drivers Wing *Traders Wing

List of Chief Minister

Electoral records

;

Sikkim Legislative Assembly The Sikkim Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Sikkim States and territories of India, state in north-eastern India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Gangtok, the capital of the Sikkim state. History Sikkim be ...

election ; Lok Sabha election, Sikkim

External links

Chief Electoral Officer, Sikkim

Sikkim Assembly, Sikkim

References