CM Tamang congratulates winning candidates of Sikkim’s party-less Panchayat elections

New Delhi, November 15: Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang in his social media post congratulated all the winning candidates of the recently held Panchayat elections at the Gram Panchayat, Ward level, and Territorial Constituency (Zilla) level in Sikkim.

He also expressed gratitude to all the candidates and the people who wholeheartedly participated in this historic independent, party-less Panchayat Election 2022, and also acknowledged the efforts of the State Election Commission and all the officials involved in this election process.

Life itself is a competition, so winning and losing is an essential part of our routine, but the most important and commendable feature is participation, he said.

With an overall voter turnout of around 75 percent exercising their right to vote, Panchayat elections in Sikkim passed off peacefully on Thursday. A total of 1675 candidates contested for gram panchayat wards, 408 for 103 zilla panchayat seats, and 19 seats were decided uncontested.

The ‘party-less’ panchayat elections in the state this time were held sans party symbols. The elections were not contested on political lines and 50 percent of candidature was reserved for women at both levels. This was the first election conducted in the state since the formation of the new districts, Pakyong and Soreng.

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, in a press release said, “The ‘massive’ participation of general public and independent candidates clearly highlights the restoration of democracy in the state.”