Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Chamling retains Namchi-Singhithang, offers up Rangang-Yangang for bye-elections VISHNU NEOPANEY

GANGTOK, 02 June: Speculations about which constituency Chief Minister Pawan Chamling will retain and which he will offer up for bye-elections continued over the weekend since most remained uninformed about the decision which appears to have already been taken before the Legislators were sworn in on 28 May. Mr. Chamling has vacated his home constituency of Rangang-Yangang, from where he had contested for the first time this year, and retained Namchi-Singithang.
As prescribed by rules, Mr. Chamling submitted his resignation from Rangang-Yangang on 28 May before he took oath of office as a member of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. A press communiqué from the SLA informs that Speaker KN Rai approved his resignation the same day.
The Sikkim Legislative Assembly published a notification on 28 May itself accepting the resignation tendered by Mr. Chamling from 15-Rangang Yangang assembly constituency and retaining his seat from Namchi-Singithang.
When contacted, Secretary, Sikkim Legislative Assembly, D. Rinchen, confirmed to NOW! that Mr. Chmling had tendered his resignation before he took oath as member of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. Speaker KN Rai has accepted his resignation under Rule 167(2) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Sikkim Legislative Assembly, the Secretary adds.
Meanwhile, SLA has also condemned a report published in a local daily today which suggested that Mr. Chamling had still not resigned from one of the two Assembly constituencies he had won the elections from. The report had gone on to speculate that this “failure” to release on constituency before the prescribe time [of 14 days since the declaration of results] means that both assembly constituencies could now fall vacant.
The SLA press release issued by the Additional Secretary, while “straightaway condemning” the said report, adds that the speculation has demeaned and offended the dignity not only of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, but of all its members as well.
The resignation, it is informed, was cleared by the Raj Bhawan on 30 May and is now being processed by the Election Commission which will next call the bye-elections. Sikkim-BJP has already announced plans to participate in the bye-elections. It had not done so on 12 April. It will be interesting to see which other parties enter the fray. SDF, it may be recalled had won from all the constituencies in South and West Sikkim, had won two of three in North Sikkim and managed to secure only four of 12 constituencies in East Sikkim.
Mr. Chamling, it may be recalled, had won from Rangang-Yangang by a margin of slightly more than 3,000 votes, having secured around 65% of the votes polled there.

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