SDF candidate wins Lungchok-Salyangdang bye-election

GYALSHING, 18 Sept [IPR]: Dil Kumari Subba (SDF) has been elected as the new Zilla Panchayat of Lungchok-Salyangdang Zilla Territorial constituency, under Daramdin constituency, West Sikkim.
The counting of the bye-election votes was held today at the Conference Hall, DAC, Rabdentse before the Returning Officer, DC (W), LP Chettri.
Dil Kumari Subba (SDF) won the bye-election with1417 votes while the other candidate Nina Kala Limboo (Independent) got 643 votes.
The Returning Officer congratulated and gave away the certificate to the newly elected Zilla Panchayat.

Foundation training for Panchayats begins in Dentam

GANGTOK, 15 Jan: Five-day foundation training for Zilla and Gram Panchayats organised by State Institute of Rural Development [SIRD] started at Dentam BAC, West Sikkim today.
As per a press release, the inaugural session was chaired by Maneybung Dentam MLA, Chandra Maya Subba, Additional Director SIRD, HK Sharma, BDO Dentam, Himmat Rai and Panchayat Inspector BAC Dentam, Devika Thapa.
The MLA, in her address urged all panchayats to attend this training and actively participate. H K Sharma informed about the salient features of the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 and also spoke on the role and responsibility of Panchayats in different areas.
Bishnu Chamling was present as the Resource Person for the training and spoke on the history of Panchayati Raj in Sikkim. Suraksha Rai [Faculty SIRD] and Arbind Thapa [FF Dentam BAC] were the main co-ordinators for the training which will conclude on 19 January, the release mentions.

Independents fail to open Zilla account in West Sikkim this time as well

GANGTOK, 05 Nov: Independents drew an embarrassing blank at the Zilla level in West district yet again, handing the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front a flawless sweep of the 23 Zilla Territorial Constitutions which required elections and were counted today. With this, SDF candidates now sit in all the 28 Zilla wards of the West district, after having already won 5 of these uncontested. In the panchayat elections of 2007 too independent candidates had not been able to win any of the 8 Zilla constituencies which had been contested that year.
The DC, West, LB Chettri, who is also the Returning Officer for the district, when contacted, further confirmed that of the 136 Panchayat wards which were contested, the SDF won 118 while the Independent candidates bagged a total of 18 Panchayat wards in the district. With this, SDF has secured 299 of the 317 panchayat wards in West Sikkim. In the last panchayat elections in 2007, Independents had won 11 of the 283 wards the district had at the time and the Congress had won One.
The contests were extremely close in some of the Independent wins which went down right to the wire. At Toyang ward for instance, Puran Kumar Darjee, an Independent candidate who bagged 104 votes edged past SDF’s Mangal Singh Kami by a solitary vote. At Baiguney ward, Independent Sita Rai won against Ramala Rai by a solitary vote again with 93 and 92 votes respectively. At Gelling Samsing, SDF’s Babita Sharma found her 96 votes just two short of the 98 votes which posted Independent Bishnu Sharma as the winner.
It was further informed by the DC, West, that the counting process was smooth and without incident. The counting process began at 8 AM and was completed by around 7 PM.

113 Independents for 70 zilla berths going to polls today

GANGTOK, 02 Nov: The zilla panchayat elections all set for tomorrow also has a good many independent candidates in the fray. There are a total of 113 independent candidates contesting the zilla panchayat seats and also 1 state Congress candidate who is contesting the Rey Rumtek zilla territorial constituency in East district. The total number of contesting seats in the zilla panchayats this year is 70 out of a total of 108; the SDF has already won 38 of these seats uncontested.
The East district has the highest number of independents at 48 for the 26 zilla seats going to poll. 6 have already been bagged by the SDF. There are as many as 12 constituencies which have 3 or more candidates and in fact there are two constituencies namely Samdong Rakdong and Chalamthang Pacheykhani which have 6 candidates contesting. One constituency, Lingtam Pacheykhani has 5 candidates.
South district has 25 independent candidates for the total 15 zilla panchayat constituencies. SDF has already won 13 constituencies uncontested. There are 8 constituencies which have 3 or more candidates contesting. One constituency, Kolthang Manzing has no SDF candidate.
In West district there are as many as 31 independent candidates for the 23 zilla constituencies going to polls. SDF has already bagged 5 uncontested. Of these there are 6 constituencies which have 3 or more candidates contesting.
North district has only 9 independent candidates for the 6 zilla seats with the SDF already bagging 14 seats uncontested. There are 3 zilla wards which have 3 or more contesting candidates.

Zilla Panchayats allocated funds under District Innovation Fund

GANGTOK, 13 Dec: The State government has sanctioned a total of Rs. 184.50 lakhs to the four Zilla Panchayats under the District Innovation Fund. This amount has been disbursed through the Rural Management and Development Department as grant-in-aid under the 13th Finance Commission grants. While the East District Zilla Panchayat has been allocated Rs. 49.50 lakh, the Zilla Panchayats of the other three districts have been allocated Rs. 45 lakh each.