DR Thapa thanks all for supporting him

GANGTOK, 15 Apr: Upper Burtuk candidate of Sikkim Democratic Front party, DR Thapa has expressed his gratitude to his supporters.

In a message to his party supporters, D R Thapa has said that he will not forget the support lent by the party workers to him and the party. In return he has further assured to do all he can for them and the development of the area.

He has also thanked the students, government employees, business community, party workers, senior citizens and the NGOs who have supported him whole heartedly during the assembly election. If voted to power, Mr Thapa states that he will use the power for betterment of the society and his constituency.

Campaigning ends for 121 constituencies in 5th phase of LS poll

New Delhi, 15 Apr: Campaigning for the crucial fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 121 constituencies ended on Tuesday. The 121 constituencies across 12 states will go for voting on April 17. Nandan Nilekani, Jaswant Singh, Shatrughan Sinha, Ananth Kumar and Jyotiraditya Scindia are amongst the big names in the fray.

In West Bengal, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduars constituencies will go for elections on April 17, marking the commencement of elections for 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. A total of 47 candidates are in the fray for the four constituencies, where tough fights are expected in a mainly four-cornered contest.

A total of 60,14,258 voters, of whom 31,14,184 are male and 29,00,024 are female, would get the opportunity to exercise their franchise in this phase of elections for the seats in North Bengal covering the Hills, Terai, Dooars and also the plains in Cooch Behar.

A total of 47 candidates are in the fray for the four constituencies, where tough fights are expected in a mainly four-cornered contest. With none of the major parties willing to give away an inch without fight, a number of top national leaders have campaigned in these constituencies.

While BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressed a huge rally at Siliguri, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attended a workers' meet in the Dooars.

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has criss-crossed the constituencies, holding a number of rallies in favour of her party candidates.

Though the TMC has never won any of these North Bengal seats going to polls on April 17, it is banking on the good show of the 2011 Assembly elections and is making an all-out effort to open its account in this area.

In Karnataka, polling will be held across all 28 constituencies and is likely to be mammoth battle with five former chief ministers in the fray. All eyes are on Bangalore South seat where Congress' Nandan Nilekani will take on BJP's five times MP Ananth Kumar and AAP's Neena Kumar. In Bangalore South, AAP has fielded former Infosyian V Balakrishnan.

Campaigning for first phase polls on 20 seats in Rajasthan also came to an end on Tuesday. Over 3.80 crore electors would exercise their franchise in first phase polls to decide the fate of 239 candidates, including 20 each of Congress and BJP, who are in the fray. The focus will be on the Barmer seat where BJP's Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary will take on Jaswant Singh, who is contesting as an independent.

As many as 38,835 polling booths have been set up these 20 constituencies. There are 17 women contestants in the fray of these, six are from Congress, including three sitting MPs and one from BJP. The remaining five seats in Rajasthan will go to polls on April 24.

In Uttar Pradesh, 11 Lok Sabha seats are going to polls on April 17. n this phase more than 1.8 crore electorate would decide the fate of 151 candidates, including stalwarts like former cabinet ministers Maneka Gandhi, Santosh Gangwar, Saleem Sherwani, Dharmendra Yadav and Begum Noor Bano. Maneka, who last time won from Aonla, is back to her traditional seat Pilibhit on BJP ticket. Of the 11 seats for which polling would be held, four were won by SP, three by Congress, and two by BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009.

The high-octane campaign for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 17 for ten seats in Madhya Pradesh concluded on Tuesday, where heavyweights like Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and state unit BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar are in the fray.

A total of 1,67,12,808 voters, including 8,99,57,33 men, 77,96,647 women and 426 "others" will seal the fate of total 142 nominees. The 10 constituencies going to polls on Thursday are Bhopal, Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho and Rajgarh.

Campaign for the second phase of polling in Maharashtra where nearly 3.25 crore voters will be sealing the fate of 358 candidates including stalwarts like Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, ex-Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and BJP leader Gopinath Munde, came to an end on Tusday. There are 358 candidates in fray, including 24 women and 201 independents. The voters in the second phase include 1,69,54,391 men and 1,53,77,605 women.

In Bihar, loudspeakers fell silent on Tuesday evening with campaigning coming to an end for the second phase voting to seven Lok Sabha seats in Bihar on April 17. Tight security arrangements have been put in place as many of the constituencies fall in Maoist-hit areas.

Voting in Patna and nearby districts would decide the fate of 117 candidates, including actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, former Home Secretary RK Singh, Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti and her two uncles Ramkripal Yadav and Ranjan Yadav.

Campaigning ended on Tuesday in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand for the April 17 polling. The constituencies where polling would be held are Giridih, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Singhbhum ST, Khunti ST and Hazaribagh from among the total 14 LS seats. Among the 106 nominees, prominent candidates were Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Karia Munda of BJP as also Jayant Sinha, son of Jaswant Sinha, former Team India Manager Amitabh Chowdhury of JVM(P), former deputy Chief Minister, Suresh Mahato of AJSU party and former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay of Congress.

11 Lok Sabha and 77 Assembly seats in Odisha will go to the second and last phase polling for the elections on April 17. The fate of 98 candidates, including 11 women would be decided in the Lok Sabha elections and that of 747 candidates, including 65 women, in the Assembly. Prominent LS candidates are Congress stalwart and union minister Srikant Jena and former Union Minister Arjun Sethi of BJD, besides a host of MPs including Tathagat Satpathy, Baijayant Panda, Pinaki Mishra, Bhatruhari Mahtab (all BJD).

Campaign for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Manipur for the second of the two seats in the state, Inner Manipur, ended on Tuseday. Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir will go to polls for three, two and one seats respectively on April 17.

High-level committee to look into demands of Ad-hoc teachers

GANGTOK, 15 Apr: A high-level committee has been constituted by the state government to look into and examine the demands and grievances of the Ad-hoc teachers in the state and submit a comprehensive proposal. The committee has been constituted under the Human Resource Development Department and is chaired by the Principal Secretary, Home Department.

The ad-hoc teachers had placed some demands relating to their service condition in the Department to the HRDD. These demands and grievances of the ad-hoc teachers have been pending and lying unaddressed for quite a long time and at one time had become a hot political issue as well.

It is informed that these demands pertain to relaxation of recruitment rule to appoint them in regular establishment, relaxation of prescribed percentage for enrolment in B.Ed Certificate course duly taking into consideration their experience in ad-hoc service and adoption of 50% reservation in direct recruitment under Notification No.137/G/DOP, of 2008 as done for the (non teaching) employees of the State Government.

It has been ascertained by the government that the demands put forward by the ad-hoc teachers are to be examined within the ambit of the National Council for Teacher Education norms of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. In this regard it is informed that the recruitment criteria of teachers at Elementary level are prescribed under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and governed by National Council for Teacher Education guidelines.

The high level committee so set up by the HRD department is to submit a comprehensive proposal to the state government and, as part of its reference, will also examine the report submitted by the departmental committee constituted in October last year.

Other members of the committee include Secretaries, DoP and HRD department. The committee is to submit its report in two months.

Sikkim pays tribute to Dr. Ambedkar

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: “I am very happy to get an opportunity to garland the statue of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar as he is from among the people who modeled modern India,” shared Governor Shriniwas Patil while addressing the 123rd birth anniversary celebrations of Dr BR Ambedkar at Sikkim Legislative Assembly [SLA] premises today. The Governor was present as the chief guest of the celebration, accompanied by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.
Just like Mahatma Gandhi and other eminent leaders, Dr Ambedkar is one of the leaders who was responsible for making the India of today, he said.
He further spoke about the life of Dr Ambedkar and added that although he did not meet him in person but he was fortunate to have studied in the same school as him and for having represented the same constituency in the Lok Sabha.
He is the person who showed the way of building India and taking it forward, he stated.
It is good to see that reservation and other rights are being given to the Scheduled Caste people in Sikkim by the State government, which shows that the government is working for the upliftment of the SC community, he added.
Earlier, in his address as the guest of honour, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, stated that the government has been working towards the upliftment of the SC community and the community has been provided with reservation and other rights and benefits by the government. However, the people need to work together to fight discrimination if they want to move forward in life in this competitive world, he added.
The community should not just be satisfied with the reservations provided to them, but make an effort to move ahead and explore more frontiers.
The government has been laying stress on education for the betterment of the SC community as education in today’s world is very important and so it is now time for the people of the community to start thinking positively and move ahead in the right direction, he said, adding that the programmes and ideology of the Sikkim Democratic Front government has been the upliftment of the SC community.
Speaking on the 11 demands placed by the All Sikkim Scheduled Caste Welfare Association [ASSCWA], the association which organsied today’s programme, he said that all their demands will be placed before the government, looked into and necessary action taken accordingly.
Earlier, seven persons from various sections of the society were felicitated by the ASSCWA for their contributions to society in various fields. The seven people felicitated were Minister TT Bhutia, Dr Pramila Giri, Thaven Nawab, Yakub Biswakarma, Geeta Ruzal, Prakash Sundas and Nikita Cintury.

Sanjaya Baru’s Book on the Prime Minister… Not Done

KC PRADHAN, MF (Yale)

I am following the comments on the book [Sanjay Baru’s “The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh”], both in national dailies and online, for last one week with a little bit of sadness. I thought it was a non-issue as far as Sikkim was concerned but since it did appear as headline in a local daily, I could not resist expressing my thoughts.

As a fellow Yalee having gone through the same mould at Yale University, the book is a sad outcome and does not reflect well on the product of the prestigious varsity. Manmohan Singh picked him as his Media Advisor and he had his full trust in him for a good five years. Taking advantage of inner stories accessed being in high position and to publish such intimate details on the eve of the election for some personal gain is sad and shows an abject lack of finesse. Once you serve your master and served in full faith, to pull the rug from under him when the going is not good is not a done thing. It is utter betrayal of trust. If every confidential secretary of a person in high position goes about bringing out such publications, where will the country stand?

The details given in the book are already in the public domain and there is nothing new to be surprised of. But to give a seal of authenticity to all such gossip as if to empower the opposition in the election fray and importantly on the eve of his relinquishing office has raised many eyebrows besides hurting the feeling of such a saintly figure.

Manmohan Singh, from an Indian standpoint, might be a weak Prime Minister. But among all the extrovert personalities of the Indian polity at present, he is the only person whom the world Leaders at large listen to. He is a gem of a man. Honest and well meaning. He is demitting office within a month and a half anyway and moving quietly to a Government allotted quarter at 3, Motilal Nehru Place, formerly occupied by outgoing CM Sheila Dixit presumably in his antiquated 1996 Maruti 800. And along with him is Gursharan Kaur, graceful and most dignified better-half of a person of that stature India had ever seen. Her grace, simplicity and vastness of knowledge in her own right, especially Sikh religion, helped the Prime Minister immensely to glide in the high society of world leaders where the better halves play equally important roles. The late Kushwant Singh had written sometime back: “I returned home happily exhausted and served myself a hefty Patiala to re-charge my battery. I began to muse over the work of wives of men in positions of power. In Western democracies they play positive roles. Besides looking after their homes and children, they receive visiting heads of States, sit beside them at State banquets and join their husbands at social functions.” And has rightly said “Gursharan Kaur is the first woman who has performed the duties expected of the wife of the Prime Minister of India”

Leaders of the world powers that gather occasionally hardly care for a Leader who lacks niceties, no matter how large a country is. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fully fulfilled the space and made considerable efforts to make them embrace India in their inner circle. It is accepted he is not a politician per see with all the tags attached but a gentleman politician alright. He is a thinker and an academician by training and rightly, Prime Minister by accident or rather ‘necessity’. An unassuming person like Sonia Gandhi, who by sheer compulsion had to be in political arena, turned into an ace and shrewd politician that awed not only India but world at large turning herself into one of the most powerful women in the world in so short a time. So there was a happy mix of politically shrewd Party President and Prime Minister as a thinker. India with such diverse regional politics and ethnicity with their won way of thinking is the most difficult country in the world to govern. Yet the duo did their best with best of intention for the country. People at large should understand ‘silence is not spoken’. On the other hand, Gandhi family has instilled in themselves a sense of purpose for India by dint of their family background going back to five generations. In Indian politics they have their uses and would continue to be so. Mudslinging for the sake of vote banks does not augur well. Elections come and go. But the citizens in this rather transparent world, thanks to tele-communication technology, continue to be more educated, enlightened and matured to chalk out their destiny.  

Adieu Mr. Prime Minister, you will always be in Sikkimese hearts for the blessings you bestowed in your won silenced ways and we wish you well.

West records 82.94% voter turnout

GANGTOK, 14 Apr [IPR]: 82.94% voter turnout was recorded in the 133 polling stations in West District. Out of 95,505 electors in the district, 79,212 turned out to cast their vote on 12 April.
As against the total number of 49,651 men, 41,486 came forward to cast their vote while 37,726 of the 45,854 women voters in the district cast their vote.
Yuksam-Tashiding with 85.02% recorded the highest voter turnout amongst the 8 constituencies of West District whereas Salghari Zoom had the lowest voter turnout at 79.48%.
Highest female turnout was recorded in Yoksam with a total of 83.35% whereas Yangthang recorded the lowest female voter turnout at 79.45%.
As per the ECI guidelines, polling started exactly at 7 am and concluded at 5 pm without any disturbance or violence reported.
As informed by the ARO, the total postal ballot cast for the Assembly Constituency till 11 April is 1,138. Postal ballots will not be received in person after 12 April and would have to be sent by post to the concerned Returning Officer by 8 a.m. on 16 May.

SKM thanks all for smooth conduct of polls, continues allegations against SDF

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Lok Sabha candidate, TN Dhakal, conveyed his thanks towards voters here for the handsome turnout on Saturday.
Speaking on the security of EVMs in East Sikkim during a press conference this afternoon, Mr Dhakal informed that he inspected the arrangements and security at the strong room where the EVMs are being kept. “I am satisfied as it is secured under CCTV facility, police force and even our workers are vigilant,” he stated.
Regarding the power supply in the strong room, Mr. Dhakal said that he was informed that there was no power supply inside the strong room but there is adequate power supply outside the strong room so the EVMs are safe from any tampering. It may be informed that power supply inside the strong room has been cut to avoid the occurrence of a short circuit. He also informed that the party has urged the administration to deploy two additional platoons of Sikkim Armed Police for the protection of EVMs in each district. The party has been assured that the additional force will be deployed in a few days.  
Speaking on other issues, he alleged that the detention of Nuk Tshering Bhutia [“Melli Sonam”] along with seven others at around 8:30 AM on the day of polling was unconstitutional and denied them their right to vote. He informed that they were released only in the evening. Mr Dhakal held the caretaker government responsible for denying the right to vote of those detained “illegally”. He further alleged that 4 SKM supporters were also arrested by the police at Rhenock without any reason.
Some incidents of post-poll violence recorded were incited by SDF party, he alleged and urged party workers to protect voters and stay alert till the election process is over. He further accused SDF party of distributing large amounts of money and threatening voters. He also alleged that the Election Commission has failed to take any action despite repeated complaints by the SKM party.
Mr Dhakal thanked SKM workers and supporters for maintaining peace during the election period. He further assured that irrespective of the election results, there will be no violence from the party after the counting of votes and will respect the mandate of the people. He informed that there was a strong direction from the party high command to the workers and supporters to steer clear of any violence.
The people of Sikkim are determined to bring change, which is inevitable, he contended further, adding that if there was no foul play then the SKM party has already won the election.

Talk on visual anthropology with special focus on Darj, at NIT on Wednesday

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford is one of the world’s more expansive museums of anthropology and archaeology in terms of the size, range and historical importance of its collections. A part of this museum is “The Tibet Album” which presents more than 6000 photographs spanning 30 years of Tibet’s history.
These extraordinary photographs are a unique record of people long gone and places changed beyond all recognition. They also document the ways that British visitors encountered Tibet and Tibetans. Interestingly several of the iconic photographs of Sikkim and its people form part of this collection.
Interested persons and students of history, anthropology and sociology now have the chance to hear Clare E. Harris, Associate Professor in Visual Anthropology and Curator for Asian Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum, speak about this collection and about the significance of visual anthropology. Dr. Harris is scheduled to deliver a public lecture here at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology on 16 April [3 p.m.], titled, “Greetings from Darjeeling: Hill Stations, Tourism and Photography in late nineteenth/early 20th century British India”.
She is also a Fellow of Magdalen College. Her publications, curatorial activities and research have focused on the material and visual culture of Tibet and the Himalayas. In addition to many articles, she has produced four books to date including a pioneering study of modern Tibetan art In the Image of Tibet: Tibetan Painting after 1959 (Reaktion Books, 1999) and The Museum on the Roof of the World: Art, Politics and the Representation of Tibet (University of Chicago Press 2012), which has won the E. Gene Smith Book Prize from the Association of Asian Studies.
Dr. Harris has curated exhibitions both at the Pitt Rivers Museum and elsewhere and she was instrumental in the creation of ‘The Tibet Album’, a website and research tool featuring six thousand historic photographs of Tibet that was launched by the 14th Dalai Lama in Oxford in 2008.

Election Deptt dismisses rumours of inadequate power supply in Strong Rooms

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: The Election Department has assured that strong rooms where the Electronic Voting Machines are housed have adequate power supply and that the security measures in place are resolute. This reassurance was made in response to apprehensions born from rumours that power outage in the strongroom here in Gangtok had somehow compromised the security of the EVMs stored at the TN auditorium.
In this regard it has been clarified by officials that the Power Department has been asked to ensure adequate and consistent power supply to the strong rooms. The Chief Electoral Officer has informed that the power supply inside the strong rooms has been cut to avoid the occurrence of short circuit. He, however, assured that the perimeter was well lit and the CCTVs powered round the clock.
In addition it has also been informed that there is adequate power back up for the CCTVs to operate as well. In fact the CCTVs, which have infrared imaging facility, are backed up by invertors which can provide power back up for up to 10 hours. Officials informed that adequate arrangements have been made for the security of the strong rooms including power supply and there should not be any reason for apprehension in people’s minds.
SKM party officials have also inspected the strong room facilities and have expressed satisfaction over the arrangements. The SKM Lok Sabha candidate, TN Dhakal has issued a statement regarding the same. It may be mentioned here that political parties can also have their representatives camped outside the strongroom on a 24x7 vigil as well.

SPCC thanks voters

GANTGOK, 14 Apr: Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee [SPCC] has expressed its gratitude towards the Sikkimese voters who turned up for the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls held on 12 April.

In a press release, SPCC has thanked the Sikkimese people who exercised their franchise upholding the democratic aspirations of the country. The party has also begged pardon from voters for any misunderstanding or shortcoming during its election campaign.

SPCC has also appealed to all the people to maintain a congenial atmosphere even after the counting of votes on 16 May, next month. Regardless of whichever party wins, everyone should come together to build a good democratic atmosphere in the state, the party adds. 

Show-cause issued to Presiding Officers on CS issue

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: The Returning Officer, East, AK Singh, has issued a show cause notice to the Presiding Officer of the concerned polling station where the Chief Secretary is said to have entered without authorization.
The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha had forwarded a complaint to the Returning Officer against the unauthorized entry of the Chief Secretary in certain polling booths on the day of poll, 12 April. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted into any polling stations.
When contacted, the RO, East informed that he has received a complaint from the SKM regarding the unauthorized entry of the Chief Secretary in certain polling stations. It is believed that the visit of the Chief Secretary in these polling booths eventually led to the polling process getting delayed; in fact in some polling stations the voting went on well past 5 pm and in some it also went past 8 pm.
It is not clear how many such polling stations the CS visited. The SKM has alleged that his visit led to delay in the polling process. As a result of this complaint the concerned RO has sought an explanation from the concerned presiding officer/s as to whether the allegation is true and if so, as to how any unauthorized personnel was allowed to enter the polling station.
As soon as a factual report is compiled, the same will be forwarded to the Chief Electoral Office, the RO informed. The entire process may take a few days. However it may also be noted that not all delays in the various polling booths were due to the visit of the Chief Secretary. In several polling stations voting spilled over past the scheduled end time of 5 pm.

RO SOUTH THANKS ALL FOR SMOOTH CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS

Returning Officer, South Sikkim expresses heartfelt gratitude towards the officials who were directly or indirectly involved in the successful conduct of general elections in South district.
The rigorous job started much before the day of announcement of elections on 05 March, 2014 by the Election Commission of India. There were a large number of teams both at the RO office and in the field who performed their assigned duties with great efficiency & sincerity.
I would like to thank all the nodal officers of various activities, the field officials including SDMs, Sector Magistrates, flying squads, SSTs, VSTs, Police Officials, excise, IPR Deptt, Transport etc. & most importantly the polling parties who conducted the polling process on the day of poll with special mention of Tumin Lingee team who did their job at the farthest location from headquarter. We would also like to thank the security forces including the para-military personnel for adequate security arrangements during the process. Our thanks to all the political parties & their candidates who cooperated with our arrangements patiently and extended all possible support for the success of these elections. DAC, South also hopes that similar support will be extended by all till the process of counting gets over.
Returning Officer/ DEO, South Sikkim

Golay extends Nepali New Year greetings

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: Sikkim Krantikari Morcha president PS Tamang [Golay] has conveyed his best wishes on the occasion of Nepali New Year 2071 to all Indian Nepalese and the Sikkimese people.  

Scrutiny of polling documents in West Sikkim

GYALSHING, 14 Apr [IPR]: Scrutiny of 17 A forms, 17 C forms, Presiding Officers Diary of all polling stations submitted by Polling and Presiding Officers was held on Sunday at Control Room, Kyongsa Girls Senior Secondary School. The contesting candidates of all political parties and their representatives were present and the process was done in the presence of the General Observer Anwaruddin Chaudhary, Returning Officer (W) Tshewang Gyachho and Election Officers.
The procedure was done peacefully after which the contesting candidates and their representatives inspected the Strong Room where the EVMs have been kept.

North announces names of its best polling officers

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: The North District Administration has announced the names of the best performing officers on polling duty. Tshering Dorjee Bhutia of Dzongu constituency was declared the Best Sector Magistrate, Tashi Dzangpo [SDPO Chungthang] was declared the Best Sector Police Officer while P Dullal [Control Room In-charge] was declared the Best Nodal Officer. North District Administration salutes them for doing a good job. The names and the commendation were announced on the North District Administration’s facebook page.

Scrutiny of documents on poll day goes off smoothly in South

NAMCHI, 14 Apr [IPR]: As informed by the RO South, Prabhakar Verma, the scrutiny of the documents of the Poll Day went about in a smooth and uninterrupted manner.

The entire procedure of the scrutiny of the documents was carried out in the presence of the General Observer, Dr R Selvaraj, General Observer South/ West (Parliamentary Constituency), G Ashok Kumar, and candidates/ election agents and representatives of all Political Parties on 13 April. The procedure was also videographed in order to avoid any discrepancies in the later stages during the counting of the votes for Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies and Sangha.

Mr Verma further informed that the Strong Room will be watched over 24X7 vigilantly and that one person of each political party maybe deputed to guard the Strong Room. The staying arrangements has been made with CCTV monitor for the political parties. In addition there will be a large number of security personnel deployed in the Strong Room premise which is also scrutinized by CCTV device 24X7.

RO gave a tour of the Strong Room premise to the candidates, their agents and the representatives of all the political parties present and they were also shown the inside of the storage room, the surveillance room with the CCTV monitor and they were briefed about all the security measures and other formalities taken up by the administration till the counting day which is on 16 May 2014.  

Kaw records highest voter turnout of 90.46% in South

NAMCHI, 14 Apr [IPR]: Voting went off peacefully in South district as well where the polling station at Kaw Government Primary School under Tumin Lingee constituency recorded the highest voter turnout of 90.46%. 

The lowest turnout of voters was recorded at Namchi Government Senior Secondary School Room No 3 at 67%.  The total number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) polled in the South Sikkim was 323, 154 Assembly Constituency, 154 Parliamentary Constituency and 15 for Sangha in all 154 Polling Stations of the district. 

SKM candidates thank voters

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Sangha candidate, Sonam Lama and Shyari candidate, Kunga Nima Lepcha have congratulated the Sikkimese people for exercising their franchise on 12 April.

In a joint press release, the two SKM candidates have thanked voters of Sangha and Syari BL constituencies for exercising their democratic right in overwhelming majority and passion which shall definitely ensure better democratic transparency and change that Sikkim currently requires.

“With the same breath, we thank the Election Commission of India for conducting this election in the best possible manner. We look forward that the Commission will leave no stone unturned in further ensuring post-poll peace and order in all manners”, the release expresses.

Shyari registered a voter turnout of 78.54%, slightly lower than the state average of 81.7%. Out of the 12,714 registered voters [including Sangha] in Shyari, 9,985 exercised their franchise on Saturday.

1,046 students to receive Degrees in 27th Convocation of IGNOU

GANGTOK, 14 Apr: 1046 students will be receiving their Degree certificates from the Regional Center Gangtok during the 27th Convocation of Indira Gandhi National Open University [IGNOU] scheduled to be held on 16 April. On the day, 321 Masters Degree, 417 Bachelors Degree, 272 B. Ed and 36 PG Diplomas will be conferred.
A press release informs that Nepali litterateur Dr Shanti Chettri will be present as the guest of honour at the function to be held at Regional Centre Gangtok and will also deliver the convocation address. The function will be held at the auditorium, Sikkim Government College, Tadong.
It is informed that the function at New Delhi will have Secretary, Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Ashok Thakur is scheduled to be present as the chief guest while Vice Chancellor, Sri Lanka Open University, Dr Vijitha Nanayakkara will be present as the guest of honour.

Cynicism Has Lost Again in Sikkim

Editorial:-
Democracy is perhaps the most optimistic of all systems. Unlike Communism or for that matter even Capitalism, it endorses a lot of faith in the people and allows them the final say in the shape of the future. While other systems keep the decision-making rights limited to a few hands, democracy lets the people decide every five years whether they want the course of things to change or a particular path to continue. But one is also noticing a growing cynicism in how people view elections, their elected leaders and the process of governance. But then again, cynicism, perhaps, is a very urban, white-collar weakness, at least in the Sikkim context, because even as passionate, and often belligerent debates raged on politics in these settings, voter turnout in these areas were noticeably lower than in the rural belts. It was also in these urban, government office circles that one saw cynicism peak even as elections drew closer. The moment the electorate gets influenced by jeeps and gypsies full of hollering youth as yardsticks of a leader’s “hold,” they reveal how they have distanced themselves from the real issues at hand, because these are noticed and discussed through a term in office and not in the final weeks of an election campaign. Elections might be fought on lung-power and muscle, but they are won in the very personal experience of the secret ballot. Fresh inductees and daily crossovers are not evidence of influence or popularity, they are merely recourses taken either by the spineless or the opportunist. Political parties are expected to build their support base with the power of ideology and vision and this should be a continuing process. When converts are won at the brink of elections, they are either purchased or coerced and should not be taken at the face-value of the claims. At best, these are ploys to stay in the news, at worst, they are engineered to misrepresent popularity indices. The voter, at the end of the day, decides which button to press based on his or her rating of the candidates and the believability of the party. Sikkim has seen all the stereotypes played out through even the most recent campaign; and while there was nothing new in the hyperbole and claims and counterclaims, one hopes that cynicism of the urban areas has not infected rural Sikkim. Cynicism makes people lazy, disinterested and detached, none of which works well for representative democracy and can prove the worst handicap for electoral politics. Thankfully for Sikkim, the more than handsome voter turnout suggests that electoral democracy still finds favour with the Sikkimese. The results on 16 May will reveal how coherently they express themselves.

Voter turn-out highest in West, lowest in East Sikkim

GANGTOK, 14 Apr[IPR]: The Chief Electoral Officer, Sikkim, D Anandan addressed the media on Sunday at the Conference Hall of his office and shared information regarding the election which was carried out on Sunday. He informed the media that poll was peacefully conducted in all the 538 polling stations throughout the state with no untoward incidents reported.
The poll which started at 7 a.m. in the morning concluded at 5 pm in almost all the polling stations barring a few where it had gone up to 9 pm due to long queue of people after 5 pm. Further he informed that the voter turn-out in the state was 81% which is likely to go up by 2 to 3 percent after the inclusion of the postal ballots.
He further informed that the voter turn-out was highest in West at 82.94% and lowest in East District at 79.03%. The South district registered a voter turn-out of 81.77% and the North district recorded 81.38% voter turn-out. The number of female voters was slightly higher than the male voters at 81.47% and 80.48%, respectively.
Yuksom Tashiding Assembly Constituency recorded the highest voter turn-out of 85.02% where out of 11,852 voters 10076 voters cast their votes. Gangtok Assembly Constituency registered the lowest voter turnout in the state with 65.95% where out of 10051 voters 6629 voters exercised their voting rights. The CEO applauded the voters of Sikkim for having come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise and said that Sikkim has proved that it is aware of its voting rights.
The CEO further informed that 5 voting machines had to be changed out of which 2 in East and 1 in West had to be changed before the poll started and 2 in North Sikkim had to be changed after the poll had started. All the procedures and formalities were followed properly while changing the voting machines.
After the completion of the poll process, all the EVMs have been stored at the Strong Rooms of the respective districts, he informed. The strong-rooms have been sealed in the presence of the candidates/ representatives of the political parties and the observers, and is under CCTV Surveillance 24x7. One platoon of West Bengal Police Force is deployed for security of the strong room at each district and a fire engine is stationed at each strong room. Representatives of the political parties/ candidates have also been allowed to stay near the strong room to ensure maximum transparency in the process of election, the CEO added.
About 3,500 polling personnel were engaged for the election process as Presiding Officers and Polling Officers while 4250 police personnel were also involved.
The CEO, Sikkim made special mention of the effort put in by a lady Police Officer, Sub Inspector Dawa Lhamu Pakhrin, SHO Sherethang who escorted two polling parties stuck near Tsomgo back to Gangtok. Polling parties of Gnathang and Kupup were stranded near Tsomgo due to heavy snowfall and despite the inclement weather conditions, the SI went upto Tsomgo at around 10:30 pm and brought them back to Gangtok safely by 3 am.
The CEO appreciated the courage and dedication of Sub Inspector in discharging her duties. He also appreciated the dedication of the polling parties in discharging their duties.
During the press conference, the CEO thanked the political parties/ candidates for their cooperation and the help provided to the election administration in successfully conducting the poll process. He made special mention of the District Collector and Superintendent of Police of the districts and the staffs, Sector Magistrates, Flying Squads, Static Surveillance Teams, Presiding and Polling Officers, police personnel, the media persons and those who were directly or indirectly involved in the smooth conduct of polls.

Sikkim Votes! RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 12 Apr: 5 pm might have been the scheduled time for the end of voting process, but the fact that voting continued well past this scheduled time with queues of pending voters in several polling stations awaiting their chance at franchise, is probably testimony to the zeal with which Sikkim went to vote today.
At the DAC, East, the Returning Officer when contacted at 5 pm stated that voting might continue up to 7 p.m. at many polling stations  as the queue still had a couple of hundred eager voters.
In a polling booth at Ranipool, a malfunctioning machine had to be replaced adding to the extra time at the end of play at 5 p.m.
Whatever may be the reasons for long queues still waiting to register their say in the makeup of the new government of Sikkim, it was evident today that voting had caught the imagination of the people with politics being the flavor of the season. As an election official pointed out, “This time there is a huge chunk of young and first time voters who have come out in large numbers”.
And it is true that the so called youth brigade was all over the place. By 1 p.m. today, already half the voting population had cast their vote. By 3 pm this figure had come to near 70% and by 4 pm the voter turnout for all districts stood at 76%, or 2.81 lakhs out of the total 3.70 lakhs. During the 2009 elections a total of 2.52 lakh people had voted out of the total electorate of 3.07 lakhs. So, already by 4 pm, the voting numbers had surpassed the figures of last elections.
The swelling of the electorate of Sikkim by almost 70,000 since the last elections was the main reason for the spilling of voting into overtime. Those in the queue were handed chits as is customary practice. However it was a grand show of collective responsibility and unity in deciding the future of the state on the part of the people. At the same time, the same can be said of the contesting candidates and political parties as well as the security personnel on duty that there was no a single untoward incident throughout the state today; at least none till the time of going to print.
The days preceding 12 April may have been littered with law & order breakdowns, complaints and allegations but the day that mattered the most went peacefully. None of the districts reported any problems. There were however some incidents of misreporting and rumour-mongering but even these collapsed on themselves eventually and did not hopefully influence how people voted. So, all in all, a successful day for Sikkim.
In fact, many heaved a sigh of relief that the day had come and gone.
“I am relieved,” said a government official on being asked how she felt on having cast her vote at the DAC, East Sikkim. Another young man echoed the same words at a polling booth in Namcheybung. This time, the campaigns and slew of allegations and assaults were probably a bit too much for the people of Sikkim. The emotion of relief was writ large on the faces of most of the people; most had become emotionally drained at the choice presented to them in terms of two major political parties competing for the next government.
For the young voters it was a picnic. “I feel good,” said one first time voter at Burtuk, while another expressed how empowered he had felt on casting his ballot. No doubt it is this chunk that could very well decide theirs as well as the future of the rest of the state. But Sikkim has also had among the oldest active voters as well. There were many aged and senior citizens lining up and being escorted by their young. It is, after all, their right.
As for voting itself, many polling booths saw rush hour in the first few hours of voting. In many places the people standing in line were seen to be complaining about the slow pace of voting. “I have been standing here for 3 hours,” said one at a polling station in Namcheybung. The presiding officers in polling booths had strict instructions to follow due procedures and this may have contributed to the slow pace of voting.
Another reason for the apparently slow process, as an election official informed, was that increase in the number of voters in some polling booths. As far as statistics go the Ben Namphrick Panchayat Ghar in Temi Namphing constituency has the largest number of voters at 1,450 followed by Penlong SSS for Kabi Lungchok constituency with 1,406 voters. The polling station at Zuluk Primary School under Gnathang Machong constituency has the lowest number of voters at 121 only; the second lowest number of voters are registered with the 10th Mile Primary School also under Kabi with 150 voters.

voters.

84-year-old Sawa Lachi Rai cast her vote today. Sikkim is a beautiful place to live in, she pointed out to those who called on her. “Its peace should be maintained by the government that comes to power and the govt should also protect the sanctity of Sikkim,” she adds.

Voters

Sikkim’s first lady pilot, Juhie Palmo Chettri, of Namchi Singithang, debuted as a voter today. She hopes that the next government delivers good governance, brings development and creates opportunities for the youth and for the people of Sikkim.

south voters

22 year old Anjana Chettri of Bhanjyang, Namchi, voted today for the first time, her name listed among the 70,000 new voters in Sikkim for Elections 2014. She was happy to cast her vote for her candidate and shared that she feels happy to participate in the process of making a government and hopes that her candidate will work for the development of Sikkim and create more opportunities.

Sangha voters.

A nun and a monk after casting their vote for the Sangha seat at Simik Linzey polling centre in East Sikkim. [courtesy: PIB]

voters

A grandmother is assisted out of the polling station at Mangan Senior Secondary School on Saturday.