Guwahati: As the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has won Assembly elections in the Himalayan state for the fifth consecutive term, the SDF leader and the chief minister Pawan Chamling is all set to break the record of longest serving chief minister in the country which is still in the name of former West Bengal chief minister Late Jyoti Basu. The Left patriarch remained CM for 23 consecutive years from June 21, 1977 to November 5, 2000.
The SDF led by Chamling won the assembly election by two-third 2/3 as per the results declared on Friday. It won 22 seats out of the total 32 seats in the Assembly. The Assembly poll was held along with Lok Sabha election in the state and the lone Lok Sabha seat was also won by the SDF candidate P D Rai.
Pawan Chamling first became the chief minister when the SDF led by him came to power on December 12, 1994 and has completed 20 years as chief minister. This time he won from both Rangang-yangang and Namchi-singhithang assembly constituencies with huge margin.
Chamling was elected to Sikkim Legislative assembly for the first time in 1985. He was elected to the Fourth Legislative Assembly from Damthang Constituency securing 96% of votes and was inducted as Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992.
He formed the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party on March 4, 1993 and the party swept the polls in the 1994 assembly elections. Since then it has been a dream run for Chamling and SDF in Sikkim which is now a global brand in eco-tourism.
India’s cleanest state has been declared as best region to visit in 2014 by Lonely Planet.
The state per capita income of Rs 1,42,625 in 2012-13, is among the highest in the country and way ahead of the national average.
Chamling aspires to make Sikkim poverty-free by 2017 and at present it has the lowest percentage of people living below the poverty line (BPL) in any state in the country. In 1993-94, 43% of Sikkim’s population lived below the poverty line.
Last year’s Planning Commission report showed that Sikkim recorded the steepest fall in poverty over the last decade – from 30% people in BPL category in 2004-05, the figure was 7.5% in 2012-13.