Sikkim CM oath-taking ceremony updates: Highlights on June 10, 2024

Along with the Chief Minister, 11 other Ministers were sworn in, including Sonam Lama, Arun Kumar Upreti, Samdup Lepcha, Bhim Hang Limboo, Bhoj Raj Rai, G.T. Dhungel, Puran Kumar Gurung, Pintso Namgyal Lepcha, Nar Bahadur Dahal, Raju Basnet and Tshering Thendup Bhutia.

The Council of Ministers in Sikkim can have a maximum strength of 12 including the Chief Minister. While three Ministers -- Arun Kumar Upreti, Nar Bahadur Dahal and Raju Basnet -- took oath in Nepali, eight other Ministers took oath in English. Only four Ministers of the previous government have been retained this time.

PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Prem Singh Tamang on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Sikkim and wished him a fruitful tenure.

Mr. Modi said on X that he looked forward to working with Mr. Tamang for the State’s progress.

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president Prem Singh Tamang was sworn in as chief minister of the Himalayan state on Monday.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at a function held in Paljor Stadium here.

Tamang, 56, became the chief minister for a second consecutive term.

The SKM returned to power in Sikkim by a landslide victory, winning 31 seats in the 32-member assembly.

The opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the state for 25 years in a row till 2019, could manage only one seat.

In 1975, the people of Sikkim, comprising indigenous Lepcha, Bhutia, and Nepali ethno-cultural groups, became citizens of India. Since then, they have remained hostile to the imposition of what they see as nationalist projects. Sikkim has always been ruled by regional forces; its politics is embedded in the lived experience of the Sikkimese people. The results of the 2024 Assembly elections in the State once again reinforce this.

The elections were seen as a contest between the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). The SKM stormed back to power winning 31 of the 32 Assembly seats. The leader of the SDF, the five-time Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, lost both the seats he contested. The SDF managed to win just one seat.

In the landlocked State nestled within the Himalayas in the northeast, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has been rather synonymous with the “winds of change”. 

The basis of their foundation or their political messaging has always rather been around the same premise. 

A perusal of their doctrine sees them emphasising “equitable wealth distribution” or “equal prosperity”. 

As captured in a Frontline report (May 2019), while the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) placed themselves with focus on peace, stability and development of their rather long reign, the SKM focused on the anti-incumbency sentiment. This was further backed by allegations of corruption and nepotism within.