1973 Sikkimese general election
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General elections were held in Sikkim in January 1973 to elect members of the State Council.[1][2] The Sikkim National Party emerged as the largest party, winning nine of the 18 elected seats.[3]
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10 and 23 January 1973
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18 of the 24 seats in the State Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Electoral system
The State Council was established in 1953 by the Chogyal.[4] It originally had 18 members, of which 12 were elected and six (including the President) appointed by the Chogyal.[4] Of the 12 elected members, six were for the Nepali community and six for the Lepcha and the Bhutia communities.[4] For the 1958 elections the number of seats was increased to 20 by adding one seat for the Sangha and an additional appointed member.[4] In 1966 a further four seats had been added; one each for the Nepali and Lepcha/Bhutia communities, together with one for the Tsong and a scheduled caste seat.[5]
Candidates for election to the Council had to be at least 30 years old, whilst the voting age was set at 21.[4]
Election schedule
The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission on 23 September 1972.[6]: 3–65
| # | Poll Event | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Publication of final electoral rolls | 24 October 1972 |
| 2 | Last Date for filing nomination | 31 October 1972 |
| 3 | Last date for withdrawal of nominations | 25 November 1972 |
| 4 | Polling - Phase 1 (West, South districts) | 10 January 1973 |
| Polling - Phase 2 (Gangtok, East, North districts) | 23 January 1973 | |
| 5 | Date of Counting | 29 January 1973 |
| 6 | Announcement of Results | 15 February 1973 |
Campaign
Prior to the elections the Sikkim State Congress and the Sikkim Janata Party merged to form the Sikkim Janata Congress.[2]
Results
| Party | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sikkim National Party | 9 | +1 | |
| Sikkim National Congress | 5 | +2 | |
| Sikkim Janata Congress | 2 | – | |
| Independents | 2 | – | |
| Appointed members | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 0 | |
| Source: AC Sinha[7] | |||
Constituency-wise
Appointed members
In addition to the elected members, six members were appointed to the Sikkim State Council by the Chogyal on 5 March; Traten Sherba Gyaltsen, Madan Mohan Rasaily, Chhoutuk Tsering Pazo, Dhan Bahadur Chettri, Kali Prasad Rai and Atang Lepcha.[9]
Aftermath
Following the election, the Sikkim National Congress and Sikkim Janata Congress claimed that vote rigging took place in the South Sikkim constituency.[10] They demanded that officials involved were arrested, but these demands were not met, leading to protests.[2] The unrest led to the signing of a tripartite agreement on 8 May between the Choygal, Sikkimese political parties and the government of India. The agreement provided for the establishment of a responsible government under the supervision of a Chief Executive nominated by the Indian government.[11][12]