Ruling SDF retains LS seat, consolidates position
The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front has consolidated its position by retaining the lone Lok Sabha seat in
this strategic border state of Sikkim.
The SDF had wrested the seat from the Sikkim Sangram Parishad in the 1996 parliamentary election when it contested the seat for the first time after launching the party in 1992.
Although SDF nominee Bhim Prashad Dahal retained the seat, his percentage of votes polled fell from 72.15 per cent in 1996 to 65.80 per cent this time.
Dahal -- who defeated former chief minister and SSP supremo Nar Bahadur Bhandari by more than 82,000 votes -- could only manage a margin of
50,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival, former chief minister Sanchaman Limboo, this time. However, the Congress increased its votes in Sikkim by 11.45 per cent over the previous time its contested the parliamentary poll in the state in 1989 when it lost to the SSP.
Analysis of the percentage of votes polled by various parties showed that the SDF's per cent had decreased by 6.35 per cent, a decline of more than 30,000 votes. The SDF lost around 1,000 votes in most of the 31 assembly constituencies, while the Opposition combine of the Congress, SSP, the Sikkim Ekta Manch and the Sikkim National Front gained almost a thousand votes in the areas, the ruling votes declined.
However, the SDF maintained its lead in its traditional stronghold of south and west Sikkim. All the Opposition leaders, including the Congress candidate, Nar Bahadur Bhandari and SEM chief and former state power secretary Laxmi Prashad Tewari could not muster voters in their favour in their respective assembly segments.
In the last general election, the SSP polled 24.5 per cent of the votes while the SDF had 72.15 per cent. The Opposition Congress combine have managed to increase its percentage of votes in east and north Sikkim, where in two assembly constituencies of Dzongu in north Sikkim and Gangtok in east Sikkim
the Congress candidate polled more votes then the SDF.
Although the total polled percentage dropped by 10 per cent in this election, the major loss has been that of the ruling SDF.
According to Chief Minister and SDF president Pawan Kumar Chamling, the decrease of votes were those of the anti-establishment votes.
''But one thing is sure -- that we have managed to increase our tally in most of the assembly segments in west Sikkim from where all the Opposition leaders hail,'' he added.
He expressed confidence that the SDF would further consolidate its position by the time the assembly election held in December 1999, and to come back to power with a thumping victory.
Elections '98
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