Edited By Sangeeta Das
Dorjee Tshering Lepcha is declared as
the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate from Sikkim. With
this move, he becomes the first representative of a national party from the
State in the Upper House of Parliament.
Thanking the ruling Sikkim Krantikari
Morcha-SKM and Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Golay, State BJP in charge Dilip
Jaiswal indicated the move “is a better sign for the future and development” of
this Himalayan State.
Lepcha was elected to the Sikkim
Legislative Assembly from the Gnathang Machong constituency twice, in 2014 and 2019.
Since Sikkim elects only one member to
the Rajya Sabha through indirect voting by State legislators, his nomination is
a noteworthy development. The tenure of SDF’s Rajya Sabha member Hishey
Lachungpa will end in February.
Besides, the term of 68 other Rajya
Sabha members, including nine Union Ministers, is set to end later this year.
Elections have been called in Sikkim for the single Rajya Sabha seat.
Dilip Jaiswal said there won’t be
requirement for holding an election as the party has an alliance with the
ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha-SKM and “the BJP has 12 MLAs while SKM has 19”.
Both parties have been political
partners even before 2019 but the later had broken the ties. The SDF MLAs’ induction
helped the BJP’s presence felt in Sikkim.
It is remarkable the BJP emerged as the
main Opposition in this Northeastern State owing to a section of the Sikkim
Democratic Front or SDF MLAs joining the BJP. The Saffron Party didn’t win a
single seat in the Assembly polls of 2019.
The BJP achieved a foothold in the State
subsequently, starting with the defection of 1o MLAs from the Pawan
Chamling-led SDF in August 2019. As a result, the BJP won two of three Assembly
bypolls and made it a significant player in Sikkim’s politics.
