Sikkim Legislative Assembly

The first responsible government in Sikkim owes its origin to the 1974 Government of Sikkim Act. In the same year, Sikkim was declared India’s associate State. Sikkim was included in the Indian Union by the Thirty-Sixth Amendment Act of 1975. Initially, the assembly had 32 members including one reserved seat for the Sangha. Sikkim Legislative Assembly was first formed in the year 1974. It has got a unicameral structure and the usual tenure of the assembly is 5 years.

The Legislative Assembly of Sikkim is run by 7 Committees. Presently, the Governor of Sikkim is Shri Sudarshan Agarwal. The speaker of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly is Shri Dawa Norbu Takarpa. Shri Mingma Tshering Sherpa is the Dy. Speaker. The Leader of the House is Shri Pawan Chamling. Shri Dorjee Rinchen is the house Secretary. The assembly summons the house thrice a year and thus the Sikkim Legislative Assembly has its budget, monsoon and winter sessions.

Sikkim National Congress won the 1974 assembly election and could manage 31 seats of the house while the Sikkim National Party ended up with only one seat. The 1979 assembly election result is very different from the previous one. This time, Sikkim Janata Parishad won the election with 16 seats. Sikkim Sangram Parishad came into prominence in 1985 and achieved a significant position as far as Sikkim political scenario is concerned just after the 1985 assembly election. Sikkim Sangram Parishad got a massive victory and won 30 seats of the house. This political party broke all the records and won 32 seats of the house in the 1989 assembly election.

The party positions in Sikkim underwent sea changes over the time and the Sikkim Democratic Front proved its influence over the state in 1994 assembly election with 19 seats. Sikkim Democratic Front performed even better in 1999 election and acquired 24 seats of the house. The last assembly election of Sikkim Legislative Assembly took place in 2004 and Sikkim Democratic Front scored a hat trick winning for the third time consecutively and won 31 seats in the assembly.

Presently Sikkim is going through a political crisis and it is really hard to predict the next poll date. But it is quite evident from this brief history that national political parties could never establish their hegemonies over this small state of India. The regional parties are highly active and influential as far as Sikkim politics go. Sikkim Democratic Front is pressurizing Indian government to create a separate Gorkhaland for the people of Sikkim and the Union Government is not ready to listen to its demands. Sikkim Democratic Front is actually voicing the issues of the Gorkha community. Indian Government is trying to restore peace in Sikkim and initiatives have been taken to normalize the situation though the tension is still persisting. It is quite clear that something must be done to control the agitations and to revive the paralyzed economy of the state.