1958 Sikkimese general election

1958 Sikkimese general election

1958
14 of the 20 seats in the State Council
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party SSC SNP IND Last election 6 6 0 Seats won 7 6 1 Seat change 1 1

General elections were held in Sikkim in 1958.[1] The Sikkim State Congress emerged as the largest party, winning seven of the 20 seats.[1] Voter turnout was around 35%.[1]

Electoral system

The State Council was established in 1953 by the Chogyal.[2] It originally had 18 members, of which 12 were elected and six (including the President) appointed by the Chogyal.[2] Of the 12 elected members, six were for the Nepali community and six for the Lepcha and the Bhutia communities.[2] For the 1958 elections the number of seats was increased to 20. One seat for the Sangha was added, together with an unreserved seat.[2][3]

Candidates for election to the Council had to be at least 30 years old, whilst the voting age was set at 21.[1] Around 55,000 voters registered for the election.[1]

Results

Party		Seats
		Bhutia-Lepcha	Nepali	Others	Total	+/–
	Sikkim State Congress	1	6	0	7	+1
	Sikkim National Party	5	0	1	6	0
	Independent	0	0	1	1	+1
Appointed members		–	–	–	6	0
Total		6	6	2	20	+2
Source: Hamlet Bareh

Constituency-wise

#	Constituency	Reservation	Name	Party
1	Gangtok	Bhutia-Lepcha	Sonam Tshering Lepcha
2			Kesang Wangdi
3		Sikkimese Nepali	Narendra Nar Singh		Sikkim State Congress
4	North-Central	Bhutia-Lepcha	Martam Topden
5			Thendup Bhutia
6		Sikkimese Nepali	Nahakul Pradhan		Sikkim State Congress
7	Namchi	Bhutia-Lepcha	Kazi Norbu Wangdi
8		Sikkimese Nepali	Sangkhaman Rai		Sikkim State Congress
9			Kashi Raj Pradhan
10	Pemayangtse	Bhutia-Lepcha	Gaden Tashi
11		Sikkimese Nepali	Sher Bahadur Gurung		Sikkim State Congress
12			Bhujit Mukhia
13	General	General	Chaksung Bhutia
14		Sangha	Lharipa Rinzing Lama		Sikkim National Party
Source: Sikkim Darbar Gazette[4][5]

Appointed members

In addition to the elected members, six others were appointed to the Sikkim State Council by the Chogyal, on 15 March; Rai Bahadur Densapa, Rev. Chotuk Tsering Pazo, Indra Prasad Subba, Bhairap Bahadur Lamchaney, Atal Singh Dewan and Hon Lt Prem Bahadur Basnet.[6]

Executive Council

The Executive Council was chosen from among the elected members, in addition to the Dewan of Sikkim, who was its President:

Name	Responsibility
N. K. Rustomji	President
K. R. Pradhan	Senior Executive Councillor
Martam Topden	Executive Councillor
Nahakul Pradhan	Deputy Executive Councillor
Norbu Wangdi	Deputy Executive Councillor
Chuksung Bhutia	Deputy Executive Councillor
Source: Proceedings of the Executive Council[7]

References

1. Hamlet Bareh (2001) Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Sikkim Mittal Publications, p17
2. Bareh, p16
3. Tashi Namgyal (16 March 1958). "Proclamation of His Highness Sir Tashi Namgyal, KCSI, KCIE, Maharaja of Sikkim, Dated the 16th March, 1958" (PDF). p. 102. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
4. "Results of elections - 1958". Sikkim Darbar Gazette. 8 (7). December 1958.
5. Pem Choden Tenzing (July 2019). Monarchy to Democracy Understanding Political Development in Sikkim, 1970-1994 (Thesis). p. 149. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
6. Tashi Namgyal (22 February 1959). "Nominations to State Council". p. 54. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
7. N. K. Rustomji (7 April 1959). "Proceedings of the Executive Council - 7th April, 1959". p. 94. Retrieved 22 June 2021.