Ruling SKM retains lone Lok Sahba seat in Sikkim

The ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has retained the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state as its sitting member of Parliament (MP) Indra Hang Subba defeated his nearest rival Bharat Basnett of the Citizen Action Party (CAP) by a margin of 78,766 votes.

The Election Commission of India was yet to announce the results officially till the time of filing this report.

Political analysts were of the view that the battle this time for Subba would be a difficult one as Basnett of CAP and PD Rai, the former Lok Sabha MP from opposition Sikkim Democratic front (SDF), were considered to be formidable candidates.

But it became apparent that the SKM was likely to retain the parliamentary seat after the resounding victory of the party in the Assembly election on June 2, in which it won a whopping 31 seats in the 32-member House.

The opposition SDF, which suffered humiliating defeat by winning a solitary seat in the Assembly, fared even worse in the parliamentary election by coming third behind the nascent CAP.

That Basnett garnered 78,170 votes compared to 1,56,836 votes of Subba has come as a morale booster for the CAP in general and Basnett in particular.

CAP, which was formed on January 26, 2023, had campaigned without flags and slogans as part of its founding principle.

Asked how he was feeling after getting elected for the second consecutive term, Subba said: “I dedicate my victory to the people of Sikkim and my leader Prem Singh Tamang (Golay), who is the state’s chief minister and the SKM president.”