The election was held on 12 April 2014 for 9th assembly of

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

, the northeastern state of India. It elected 32 members of Sikkim Legislative Assembly.

Background

Pawan Chamling led SDF had already formed the previous four 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, and then again after the 1999 election, when they increased their tally to 24 seats. Chamling's third term began on 21 May 2004 after increasing his tally to 31. In the 2009 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, the SDF had a clean-sweep winning all 32 seats in the state assembly and Chamling sworn in as a Chief Minister fourth times on 20 May 2009. SDF is contesting for the fifth consecutive term.

Campaign and issues

The Buddhist minority demanded Karmapa to contest from Rumtek monastery. Nepali community in Sikkim demanded tribal status.

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (translation: ''Sikkim Revolutionary Front'') is a political party in the Indian state of Sikkim which is the ruling party of Sikkim since 2019. Prem Singh Tamang, P.S. Golay, a member of the Sikkim Legislative Assembl ...

(SKM) was formed by Prem Singh Tamang in February 2013. Prem Singh Tamang alias P S Golay left Chamling's SDF in September 2014 and joined SKM. SKM contested from all 32 seats.

Schedule of election

Polling

There were eligible voters including female voters. 538 polling stations were set up by election commission which were guarded by 3500 policemen and 15 companies of the West Bengal Police. There are two seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), 12 for Bhutia-Lepcha (BL) communities out of 32 seats. One seat (

Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

) is reserved for 2900 monks of over 100 monasteries. SKM leader Golay contested from Namthang-Rateypani seat against incumbent SDF minister Tilu Gurung. SDF leader and incumbent chief minister Chamling contested from two places, Namchi-Singhithang and Rangang-Yangang.

Voter turnout

Total 80.97% of electorate including 80.57% males and 81.40% females cast their vote. Voter turnout at each constituency was as below:

Parties contested

Results

Votes were counted and results were declared on 16 May 2014. SDF lost 10 seats to SKM resulting in formation of opposition in the assembly which did not exist in previous assembly.

Results by constituency

Government formation

SDF led by Chamling secured majority by winning 22 out of 32 seats. SKM won the rest ten seats.

Pawan Kumar Chamling Pawan Kumar Chamling Rai (born 22 September 1950) is an Indian politician and writer who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1994 to 2019. He is the List of longest-serving Indian chief ministers, longest serving Chief Minister in ...

was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the fifth time on 21 May 2014 by Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil, the Governor of Sikkim. He became the chief minister fifth time, a record previously held by Jyoti Basu who ruled West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.

References

{{Sikkimese elections 2014 State Assembly elections in India April 2014 in India State Assembly elections in Sikkim 2010s in Sikkim