Pawan Kumar Chamling

Pawan Kumar Chamling (born 22 September 1949) is an Indian politician and writer who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1994 to 2019. He was the longest serving Chief Minister of Sikkim and India, surpassing Jyoti Basu.[1][2] Chamling is the Founding President of the Sikkim Democratic Front.[3][4] He also served as the Leader of the opposition, Sikkim Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2019. He represents the Namchi-Singhithang constituency in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly since 2019 and the Damthang constituency from 1985 to 1994. Prior to establishing the Sikkim Democratic Front, Chamling served as Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in Nar Bahadur Bhandari's cabinet.

Pawan Kumar Chamling
पवन कुमार चाम्लिङ
Official Portrait
5th Chief Minister of Sikkim
In office
12 December 1994 – 26 May 2019
Preceded bySanchaman Limboo
Succeeded byPrem Singh Tamang
Leader of the Opposition, Sikkim Legislative Assembly
In office
3 June 2019 – 13 August 2019
Preceded byPrem Singh Tamang
Succeeded byVacant
Member of Sikkim Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
3 June 2019
Preceded byBinod Kumar Rai
ConstituencyNamchi-Singhithang
In office
8 March 1985 – 11 December 1994
Preceded byPradeep Yanzone
Succeeded byHimself
ConstituencyDamthang
Personal details
Born (1949-09-22) 22 September 1949
Yangang, Kingdom of Sikkim
(present-day Sikkim, India)
Political partySikkim Democratic Front
Spouse(s)Dhan Maya Chamling
Tika Maya Chamling
Children8
Profession
Websitewww.pawanchamling.com

Personal life

Chamling was born in Yangang, South Sikkim to Nepali parents Ash Bahadur Chamling and Asha Rani Chamling. Chamling is also a prolific Nepali language writer, and recipient of the Bhanu Puraskar (2010) awarded by Sikkim Sahitya Parishad. He writes under the pen name Pawan Chamling. Mr. Chamling has two wives and 8 children (4 sons and 4 daughters).[5][6][7]

Political career

Chamling was elected as the president of Yangang Gram Panchayat in 1982. In 1985, he was elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for the first time. After being elected for the second time from Damthang, he became the Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in the Nar Bahadur Bhandari cabinet. After a series of major political upheavals in Sikkim, Chamling formed the Sikkim Democratic Front on 4 March 1993.

Chamling is the second chief minister in India after Jyoti Basu, of West Bengal to govern a state five terms in a row, with his party Sikkim Democratic Front winning the 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 Sikkim Legislative Assembly elections. His party first came to power in Sikkim after winning the 1994 Sikkim assembly elections. His popularity kept soaring in Sikkim due to his developmental work and for maintaining peace. In 2009, his party Sikkim Democratic Front won all 32 assembly seats in Sikkim Legislative Assembly.

In 2012, he faced allegations of corruption and Bhandari, his predecessor as CM, predicted that Chamling would go to jail if he lost his power.[6] And his former comrade Tamang (Golay) developed differences with him and floated his own party. These developments created political challenge for him, but he managed to win the assembly elections of 2014, albeit with a much reduced majority.

Following win in 2014 assembly election, he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the fifth consecutive time on 21 May 2014 by Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil, the Governor of Sikkim. He became the chief minister for a fifth time, a record previously held by Jyoti Basu who ruled West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.[8][5]

His party SDF won 22 out of 32 assembly seats in the 2014 legislative assembly election. 18 months after the 2014 elections, on 30 November 2015, 7 out of 10 opposition MLAs joined the SDF party under the leadership of Pawan Chamling. The ruling front had 29 out of 32 assembly seats in the state.[9]

Chamling resigned as CM after 2019 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election as former member Prem Singh Tamang's Sikkim Krantikari Morcha 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 Bharatiya Janata Party and in the same month two other legislators joined Sikkim Krantikari Morcha. Thus making Chamling only MLA of the party.[10][11][12]

Electoral records
Sikkim Legislative Assembly election
Year Constituency Political Party Result Position Votes  % Votes  % Margin Deposit Source
1985 Damthang SSs Won 1st/8 2,281 73.79 +57.00 refunded [13]
1989 Damthang SSP Won 1st/2 4,227 94.27 +88.54 refunded [14]
1994 Damthang SDF Won 1st/4 3,904 70.27 +43.93 refunded [15]
1999 Damthang SDF Won 1st/3 4,952 72.26 +45.03 refunded [16]
2004 Damthang SDF Won 1st/1 - - uncontested - [17]
2009 Poklok-Kamrang SDF Won 1st/6 7,379 80.68 +65.12 refunded [18]
Namchi-Singhithang SDF Won 1st/6 5,653 80.97 +66.51 refunded [18]
2014 Namchi-Singhithang SDF Won 1st/3 4,774 55.08 +12.67 refunded [19]
Rangang-Yangang SDF Won 1st/3 6,343 63.84 +32.23 refunded [19]
2019 Poklok-Kamrang SDF Won 1st/5 7,731 59.09 +22.16 refunded [20]
Namchi-Singhithang SDF Won 1st/5 5,054 50.31 +3.75 refunded [21]

See also

References
  1. "Sikkim budget session from 25 June". Zee News. Gangtok. PTI. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  2. "Pawan Chamling — The Fifth Chief Minister of Sikkim". National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  3. Dahal, Chewan K (6 September 2017). "Sikkim CM wants BJP chief to step in". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  4. "Sikkim's Pawan Chamling becomes longest serving Chief Minister, surpasses former West Bengal Chief M - The New Indian Express". newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  5. "Sikkim's Pawan Chamling is the longest serving Chief Minister, surpassing former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu".
  6. "Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling dangles 'crorepati' dream". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. "Chamling's Family Wealth Swells by 80%". outlookindia. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. "Chamling sworn in as Sikkim CM for record fifth time". The Indian Express. Gangtok. Press Trust of India. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. IANS (22 March 2019). "Why are national parties shunned in Sikkim? (Dangal 2019)". News and Analysis from India. A Refreshing approach to news. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  10. BJP now main opposition party in Sikkim even without winning a single seat
  11. "10 SDF legislators switch over to BJP". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  12. "Ten SDF MLAs join BJP: Sikkim may be headed towards Arunachal Pradesh route, as mass crossovers leave ex-CM in the lurch". Firstpost. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  13. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1985 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1985. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  14. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1989 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1989. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1994 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1994. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  16. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1999 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  17. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2004 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  18. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2009 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  19. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2014 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  20. "Poklok Kamrang Election Result 2019 LIVE COUNTING". Firstpost. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  21. "Namchi Singhithang Election Result 2019 LIVE COUNTING". Firstpost. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
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