By – Aditi Gupta
Prem Singh Tamang has taken the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Sikkim twice in a row. Tamang was given the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya.
Prem Singh Tamang, the president of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), was sworn in as the state’s chief minister. Tamang took on the position of Chief Minister of Sikkim twice in a row. Paljor Stadium in Sikkim served as the setting for the swearing-in event. Tamang was granted the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya. Tamang was not the sole freshly elected MLA to take an oath of office as a minister.
Prem Singh Tamang on being reelected as Sikkim’s chief minister. PM Modi said on social media site X, “On taking oath as Chief Minister of Sikkim, I wish Prem Singh Tamang a successful tenure and look forward to working with him for the progress of Sikkim.”
This year, Sikkim held assembly elections in April, with the results announced on June 2. Under the direction of Prem Singh Tamang, SKM has overwhelmingly prevailed in 31 of the state’s 32 seats. Tamang won the two seats he ran for in the assembly elections this time. Tamang showed once more his stronghold among the populace by winning the seats in Soreng-Chakung and Rhenock.
In Singling Busti, West Sikkim, on February 5, 1968, Prem Singh Tamang was born. Dhan Maya Tamang is his mother’s name, and Kalu Singh Tamang is his father. Tamang completed his arts degree at Darjeeling Government College in 1988 after receiving an early schooling. Tamang taught government before entering politics. Nevertheless, he was more engaged in social service than education. He eventually joined the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and started taking part in its political activities as a result of this. Following this, he quit his post with the government and joined SDF permanently. Chamling regarded SDF founder and former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling as his political teacher.
Tamang ran in his first-ever assembly election in 1994. In addition, he won his first election by running on the SDF ticket from the Soreng Chakung seat. He was the Church and Industry Department’s Minister of Animal Husbandry from 1994 until 1999. He was elected as an MLA from the Soreng Chakung assembly constituency once more in the 1999 assembly elections. He was the state’s Minister of Industry and Animal Husbandry from 1999 until 2004. He won the Chakung constituency in the subsequent election, which took place in 2004, by defeating Satish Mohan Pradhan, the Congress candidate. He became the Minister of the State’s Department of Building and Housing as a result. Prem Singh Tamang, a candidate from Upper Burtuk, defeated Arun Kumar Rai, a candidate for the Congress, in 2009.
In the state, a new party called Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) emerged following Prem Singh Tamang’s 2013 resignation from the SDF. Tamang founded the group and ran for office in the 2014 legislative elections. SKM gained 10 of the state’s 32 seats during this period. It was an effective start for SKM in the state, with 43% of the vote.
After that, things changed, and in 2019 the SKM under Tamang emerged victorious in the state for the first time. At this point, the Pawan Kumar Chamling the government—which had ruled for twenty-four years, five months, and fifteen days—had to fall. SKM took office by gaining 17 seats. Prem Singh Tamang became the state’s new government after Pawan Kumar Chamling’s fell.