Published 12:27 IST, October 24th 2019
Ram Madhav declares maiden victory for BJP in Sikkim by-polls
On Thursday, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav announced on microblogging website Twitter that the party had won its maiden seat in the Sikkim assembly.
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As the counting for the by-polls in several states commenced, along with Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana on Thursday morning, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav announced on Twitter that the party had won its first-ever seat in the Sikkim assembly. According to him, BJP candidate Sonam Venchungpa won from the Martam-Rumtek constituency. His primary opponent was Nuk Tshering Bhutia of the Sikkim Democratic Party (SDF). The BJP candidate won with a margin of 1800 votes.
It’s official now. BJP’s maiden victory in Sikkim. BJP candidate Sonam Venchungpa won from Rumtek assembly segment by a margin of 1800 votes. Congrats to Sikkim BJP
— Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) October 24, 2019
The Martam-Rumtek constituency
Martam- Rumtek is one of the 32 Assembly seats in Sikkim. It falls under the East Sikkim Lok Sabha constituency and is also a part of the East Sikkim district. Mechung Bhutia from the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) won the seat in 2014 by defeating the SDF candidate by a margin of 479 votes. The SKM got a vote share of 50.24%.
The opposition demanded the intervention of EC
The by-polls in Sikkim have witnessed a lot of turmoil with SDF. The principal opposition party in the state requested the Election Commission of India to defer the Poklok-Kamrang assembly by-poll by 4 weeks. The ruling SKM fielded Chief Minister PS Golay as their candidate from this constituency. SDF spokesperson and former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Prem Das Rai submitted a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra alleging poll-related violence. Rai stated that the Sikkim CM was desperately trying to win the election by inciting violence against SDF leaders. He accused the SKM of many electoral offenses including an attack on the convoy of SDF president and former CM Pawan Chamling on October 10. Moreover, the former Lok Sabha MP expressed apprehension about the level playing field in the election. Thereafter, the EC appointed a special observer Vivek Dube for this assembly segment.
11:52 IST, October 24th 2019