Brother wins minus CM aid

Nirmal Mangar, TT, Gangtok, Sept. 16: Rup Narayan Chamling, the younger brother of Pawan Chamling, won the lone Assembly bypoll in Sikkim today as an Independent, despite the visible lack of support from his chief minister elder sibling.

Pawan Chamling had said he was not happy with his brother in the fray as he did not want anyone from his family to join politics.

Rup Narayan won the Rangang-Yangang in South Sikkim, a seat vacated by Pawan Chamling as he had won another seat also in the Assembly elections.

Pawan Chamling had said that his party, the Sikkim Democratic Front, would not take in his brother even if he won the election.

“I have a family relationship with my brother but not a political relationship. I appeal to the people of Rangang- Yangang to not get misguided but to vote for the SDF candidate. My younger brother is going around saying that he has my blessings, which is completely wrong. He doesn’t enjoy my political patronage,” the chief minister had said at a SDF meeting on September 1.

Rup Narayan said today: “This is the victory of the people. I am thankful to the people who voted for me. I will work with the people of Rangang-Yangang for the development of the constituency. I will make sure that I do not let my people down and will respect the mandate given to me by my people.”

Rup Narayan won by a margin of 708 votes. The SDF had fielded Kumari Thapa who got 4,080 votes and the BJP’s candidate Bikash Basnet, who was backed by Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), got 351 votes.

A senior SDF leader, said: “In a democracy people have the right to choose their leader and the people of Rangang-Yangang decided to elect R.N. Chamling. This should be welcomed because the people’s power reigns supreme in a democracy. As far as our party is concerned, every effort was made to make our candidate win. We welcome the decision of the people.”

The election was held on September 13.

The SDF has 21 seats in the Assembly, the SKM 10 and Rup Narayan, the lone Independent, one.

The total number of seats is 32.