Sikkim Assembly Elections 2024: Who is PS Tamang, the giant killer who decimated SDF?

It was beyond disappointment for the SDF who had ruled Sikkim for 25 years at a stretch to win just one seat this time

Prem Singh Tamang, 57-year-old Chief Minister of Sikkim emerged as the giant killer as he and his party, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), decimated the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF),
a party that ruled Sikkim for 25 years, restricting the party’s win to just one seat in the race for the 32-member Sikkim Assembly.

The Tamang-SKM wave was so strong that former five-term Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling too lost both the seats –
Namcheybung and Poklok Kamrang – he was contesting from.

Chamling lost to Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) candidate Raju Basnet by 2,256 votes in the Namcheybung seat. In the Poklok Kamrang Assembly constituency, he lost to Bhoj Raj Rai of SKM by 3,063 votes.

• P S Tamang: From being SDF leader to SDF demolisher*

If we look back into the history, Tamang was himself a former SDF leader and a 6-time MLA, 56-year-old Tamang turned a rebel after the Rolu picnic incident of 2009 when the SDF government had issued a show cause notice to the government employees who had gone for the picnic.
In 2013 he resigned from SDF, formed Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in 2013 in Soreng, West Sikkim and became its President.
In 2019, Tamang usurped the CM’s chair from Pawan Chamling by winning 17 seats and ended SDF’s 25-year rule in the state.
Soon after the SKM’s massive victory, PS Tamang said, “I convey my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Sikkim. At the same time I also thank my dedicated party workers who have worked very hard. Despite facing the COVID-19 situation and the GLOF disaster, the SKM government despite facing challenges had dedicatedly worked for the people of Sikkim. This is why we have won.”
Commenting about the SDF’s poor performance, PS Tamang said, “SKM had worked in every assembly constituency with full dedication, because of that Pawan Chamling has lost today. He had already lost in 2019. Works which the Pawan Chamling government could not do in 25 years, we did those in just 5 years. So he has lost.”
𝗔 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗦 𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿:
Teacher-turned-politician PS Tamang won both Soreng-Chakung & Rhenock. In 2019, won the Poklok-Kamrang seat.
A former SDF leader and a 6-time MLA, 56-year-old Tamang turned a rebel after the Rolu picnic incident of 2009 when the SDF government had issued a show cause notice to the government employees who had gone for the picnic.
In 2013 he resigned from SDF, formed Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in 2013 in Soreng, West Sikkim and became its President.
In the 2014 Sikkim Assembly polls, SKM won 10 of the 32 Assembly seats.
In 2019, Tamang usurped the CM’s chair from Pawan Chamling by winning 17 seats.
Tamang won the Chakung seat thrice – 1994, 1999 and 2004 as SDF candidate.
He won the Upper Burtuk seat in 2009 on SDF ticket and in 2014 he won the Upper Burtuk and the Namthang-Rateypani seats as SKM leader.
He won the Poklok-Kamrang seat in the 2019 by-election.

Watch also: Credit for SKM’s victory in Sikkim belongs to diligent party workers and supporters: CM PS Tamang

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