Congress Fields Gopal Chettri From Sikkim Seat (image-X/INCSikkim)Gopal Chettri has been nominated as the Congress candidate from Sikkim for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In 2023, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Gopal Chettri as the President of the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee. A six-member Political Affairs Committee of the state Congress unit was constituted as well.
From 2009 to 2014, SDF candidate Prem Das Rai won the Sikkim seat with 1.5 lakh and 1.6 lakh votes, respectively. However, in 2019, the seat went to SKM candidate and sitting MP Indra Hang Subba, who secured 1.6 lakh votes.
Gopal Chettri had criticised the sitting MP for not raising questions when the Finance Bill 2023 was passed in Lok Sabha without discussions on March 25, last year. Chettri questioned why Hang Subba had failed to fulfil his responsibility of representing and protecting the people of Sikkim and their interests. The bill had proposed to amend a section that extended income tax exemptions to the Sikkimese people.
After Chettri’s nomination, Girish Chodankar, the Sikkim in-charge of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), called the SKM-BJP nexus a danger, threatening the people of Sikkim and their identity.
Reportedly, Chettri was accused of using ‘unparliamentary language’ A defamation case was registered after a complaint was filed by the President of Former Legislator’s Federation of Sikkim (FLFS), DB Thatal. After remaining under police custody, Chettri was eventually released in 2022.
The state of Sikkim falls under the Lok Sabha constituency of Sikkim, which comprises 32 Vidhan Sabhas. Interestingly, the state held its first general elections in 1977 after joining the Indian Union in 1975. The first member of parliament who was elected unopposed was Congress candidate Chatra Bahadur Chhetri in 1977. Since then, Congress has failed to wrest the seat back. Regional parties such as Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP), Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), and Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), the current ruling party of Sikkim, are more prominent in the state.