Ram Madhav declares maiden victory for BJP in Sikkim by-polls

As the counting for the by-polls in several states commenced, along with Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana on Thursday morning, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav announced on Twitter that the party had won its first-ever seat in the Sikkim assembly. According to him, BJP candidate Sonam Venchungpa won from the Martam-Rumtek constituency. His primary opponent was Nuk Tshering Bhutia of the Sikkim Democratic Party (SDF). The BJP candidate won with a margin of 1800 votes. 

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The Martam-Rumtek constituency 

Martam- Rumtek is one of the 32 Assembly seats in Sikkim. It falls under the East Sikkim Lok Sabha constituency and is also a part of the East Sikkim district. Mechung Bhutia from the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) won the seat in 2014 by defeating the SDF candidate by a margin of 479 votes. The SKM got a vote share of 50.24%.  

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The opposition demanded the intervention of EC 

The by-polls in Sikkim have witnessed a lot of turmoil with SDF. The principal opposition party in the state requested the Election Commission of India to defer the Poklok-Kamrang assembly by-poll by 4 weeks. The ruling SKM fielded Chief Minister PS Golay as their candidate from this constituency. SDF spokesperson and former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Prem Das Rai submitted a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra alleging poll-related violence. Rai stated that the Sikkim CM was desperately trying to win the election by inciting violence against SDF leaders. He accused the SKM of many electoral offenses including an attack on the convoy of SDF president and former CM Pawan Chamling on October 10. Moreover, the former Lok Sabha MP expressed apprehension about the level playing field in the election. Thereafter, the EC appointed a special observer Vivek Dube for this assembly segment.  

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Read: Sikkim Bypoll: SDF Moves Election Commission Seeking Deferment