1973 Sikkimese general election

1973 Sikkimese general election
← 1970 10 and 23 January 1973 1974 →
18 of the 24 seats in the State Council
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party SNP SNC SJC
Last election 8 3 –
Seats won 9 5 2
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 2 –

General elections were held in Sikkim in January 1973.[1][2] The Sikkim National Party emerged as the largest party, winning nine of the 18 elected seats.[3]

Electoral system

The State Council was established in 1953 by the Chogyal.[4] It originally had 18 members, of which 12 were elected and six (including the President) appointed by the Chogyal.[4] Of the 12 elected members, six were for the Nepali community and six for the Lepcha and the Bhutia communities.[4] For the 1958 elections the number of seats was increased to 20 by adding one seat for the Sangha and an additional appointed member.[4] In 1966 a further four seats had been added; one each for the Nepali and Lepcha/Bhutia communities, together with one for the Tsong and a scheduled caste seat.[5]

Candidates for election to the Council had to be at least 30 years old, whilst the voting age was set at 21.[4]

Election schedule

The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission on 23 September 1972.[6]: 3–65 

# Poll Event Date
1 Publication of final electoral rolls 24 October 1972
2 Last Date for filing nomination 31 October 1972
3 Last date for withdrawal of nominations 25 November 1972
4 Polling - Phase 1 (West, South districts) 10 January 1973
Polling - Phase 2 (Gangtok, East, North districts) 23 January 1973
5 Date of Counting 29 January 1973
6 Announcement of Results 15 February 1973

Campaign

Prior to the elections the Sikkim State Congress and the Sikkim Janata Party merged to form the Sikkim Janata Congress.[2]

Results

PartySeats+/–
Sikkim National Party9+1
Sikkim National Congress5+2
Sikkim Janata Congress2–
Independents2–
Appointed members60
Total240
Source: AC Sinha[7]

Constituency-wise

# Constituency Reservation Name Party
1 West Sikkimese Nepali Chattra Bahadur Chettri Sikkim National Congress
2 Chandra Bahadur Rai Sikkim National Congress
3 Bhutia-Lepcha Thendup Tsering Bhutia Sikkim National Party
4 South Sikkimese Nepali Durga Prasad Rai Sikkim National Congress
5 Bhuwani Prasad Kharel Sikkim Janata Congress
6 Bhutia-Lepcha Khunzang Dorji Sikkim National Party
7 Gangtok Sikkimese Nepali Ashok Tsering Bhutia Sikkim National Party
8 Bhutia-Lepcha Harka Bahadur Basnett Sikkim National Party
9 East Sikkimese Nepali Nima Tenzing Sikkim National Party
10 Kalzing Gyatso Sikkim National Party
11 Bhutia-Lepcha Bhuwani Prasad Dahal Sikkim Janata Congress
12 North Sikkimese Nepali Netuk Lama Sikkim National Party
13 Ugyen Palzor Kazi Sikkim National Party
14 Bhutia-Lepcha Kul Bahadur Chettri Sikkim National Party
15 General None Kazi Lhendup Dorjee Sikkim National Congress
16 SC Purna Bahadur Khati Independent
17 Tsong Krishna Bahadur Limbu Sikkim National Congress
18 Sangha Peyching Lama[8] Independent
Source: Election Committee[6]: 64–65 

Appointed members

In addition to the elected members, six members were appointed to the Sikkim State Council by the Chogyal on 5 March; Traten Sherba Gyaltsen, Madan Mohan Rasaily, Chhoutuk Tsering Pazo, Dhan Bahadur Chettri, Kali Prasad Rai and Atang Lepcha.[9]

Aftermath

Following the election, the Sikkim National Congress and Sikkim Janata Congress claimed that vote rigging took place in the South Sikkim constituency.[10] They demanded that officials involved were arrested, but these demands were not met, leading to protests.[2] The unrest led to the signing of a tripartite agreement on 8 May between the Choygal, Sikkimese political parties and the government of India. The agreement provided for the establishment of a responsible government under the supervision of a Chief Executive nominated by the Indian government.

References

  1. ^ Election Committee (23 September 1972). "Election Department - Notification No. 3/CE". p. 3. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Hamlet Bareh (2001) Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Sikkim Mittal Publications, p18
  3. ^ Sikkim Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine Institute of Developing Economies
  4. ^ a b c d e Bareh, p16
  5. ^ Bareh, p17
  6. ^ a b Election Committee, Government of Sikkim (15 February 1973). "Declaration of Election Results". Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  7. ^ AC Sinha. "Chapter 8: Sikkim" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2014.
  8. ^ Sunanda K Datta-Ray (1984). Smash And Grab - Annexation Of Sikkim. p. 166. Retrieved 15 June 2021. ...they were supported by Peyching Lama, who had been elected un-contested from the monasteries...
  9. ^ "Nominations of Sikkim Council members". 5 March 1973. p. 72. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. ^ Shanker Sharma (8 May 2021). "The 8th May Agreement". Sikkim Express. Retrieved 10 July 2021. The defeated parties alleged polling in Rabong in South Sikkim was rigged in the favour of the SNP candidate