General elections were held in Sikkim in January 1973 to elect members of the State Council.Hamlet Bareh (2001) Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Sikkim Mittal Publications, p18 The Sikkim National Party emerged as the largest party, winning nine of the 18 elected seats.Sikkim Institute of Developing Economies

Electoral system The State Council was established in 1953 by the Chogyal.Bareh, p16 It originally had 18 members, of which 12 were elected and six (including the President) appointed by the Chogyal. Of the 12 elected members, six were for the Nepali community and six for the Lepcha and the Bhutia communities. For the 1958 elections the number of seats was increased to 20 by adding one seat for the Sangha and an additional appointed member. 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.Bareh, p17

Candidates for election to the Council had to be at least 30 years old, whilst the voting age was set at 21.

Election schedule The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission on 23 September 1972.

#Poll EventDate1 Publication of final electoral rolls 24 October 19722 Last Date for filing nomination 31 October 19723 Last date for withdrawal of nominations 25 November 19724 Polling - Phase 1 (West, South districts) 10 January 1973 Polling - Phase 2 (Gangtok, East, North districts) 23 January 19735 Date of Counting 29 January 19736Announcement 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.

Results

Constituency-wise #ConstituencyReservationNameParty1WestSikkimese NepaliChattra Bahadur ChettriSikkim National Congress2Chandra Bahadur RaiSikkim National Congress3Bhutia-LepchaThendup Tsering BhutiaSikkim National Party4SouthSikkimese NepaliDurga Prasad RaiSikkim National Congress5Bhuwani Prasad KharelSikkim Janata Congress6Bhutia-LepchaKhunzang DorjiSikkim National Party7GangtokSikkimese NepaliAshok Tsering BhutiaSikkim National Party8Bhutia-LepchaHarka Bahadur BasnettSikkim National Party9EastSikkimese NepaliNima TenzingSikkim National Party10Kalzing GyatsoSikkim National Party11Bhutia-LepchaBhuwani Prasad DahalSikkim Janata Congress12NorthSikkimese NepaliNetuk LamaSikkim National Party13Ugyen Palzor KaziSikkim National Party14Bhutia-LepchaKul Bahadur ChettriSikkim National Party15GeneralNoneKazi Lhendup DorjeeSikkim National Congress16SCPurna Bahadur KhatiIndependent17TsongKrishna Bahadur LimbuSikkim National Congress18SanghaPeyching LamaIndependentSource: Election Committee

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.

Aftermath Following the election, the Sikkim National Congress and Sikkim Janata Congress claimed that vote rigging took place in the South Sikkim constituency. They demanded that officials involved were arrested, but these demands were not met, leading to protests. 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.

References