GANGTOK, 20 Jan: Former Minister and three-time MLA from North Sikkim, Hissey Lachungpa, is all set to take up office as the next Member of Parliament from Sikkim in the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Lachungpa, the Political Advisor to the Chief Minister [a post from which he resigned yesterday in preparation for the candidature], was officially announced as the SDF candidate for the Upper House today. He was at the Sikkim Legislative Assembly this morning, to file his nomination papers with the Returning Officer, Secretary, Sikkim Legislative Assembly, D Rinchen.
Incidentally, today was the last date for the filing of nomination papers and the Secretary informed that only one nomination has been received by him. Scrutiny of the nomination papers is scheduled for 21 January, with 23 January set as the last date for the withdrawal of nominations. The process [of filing nomination papers had officially opened on 13 January].
While Mr. Lachungpa was always considered a front-runner for the party endorsement, his candidature was officially unveiled only this morning by the SDF Parliamentary Board constituted for the task.
Sources inform that there were not many other names in the final shortlist and that Mr. Lachungpa was a unanimous choice.
Mr Lachungpa’s nomination was supported by four MLAs - Bhim Prasad Dhungel, Beg Bahadur Rai, Menlom Lepcha and Dorjee Namgyal. A Rajya Sabha candidate required the endorsement of at least10% of the MLAs of the State Legislature to contest for the berth. With all Assembly seats with the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, no other hopeful can muster the 4 supporting votes of MLAs required to even file nomination papers.
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