The counting of votes for the Sikkim assembly elections 2024 will take place on Sunday, two days before the results of Lok Sabha polls and poll-bound states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
The Election Commission had advanced the date for the counting of votes to June 2, stating that the term of the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh assemblies would end on June 2. The poll panel cited Article 324, 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and added that it is necessary for the poll panel to conduct the elections before the cessation of their respective terms.
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The elections to 32 assembly constituencies in Sikkim were held simultaneously with the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
Sikkim is witnessing the tight contest between the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and the opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). Last November, football star Bhaichung Bhutia's Hamro Sikkim Party had merged with the SDF.
Also in the fray are nominees of the BJP, Congress and Citizen Action Party-Sikkim (CAP-S) as counting will be held at six locations in as many districts amid tight security arrangements from 6 am on Sunday.
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Also in the fray are nominees of the BJP, Congress and Citizen Action Party-Sikkim (CAP-S) as counting will be held at six locations in as many districts amid tight security arrangements from 6 am on Sunday.
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Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, his wife Krishna Kumari Rai, former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and the former Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia are the prominent candidates among the 146 contestants in the fray.
In the last assembly elections, the ruling SKM had won 17 seats, while the SDF secured 15 seats.
Tamang is hopeful of a second straight term to his party. His wife Krishna Kumari Rai is contesting from Namchi-Singhithang assembly constituency.
Chamling, 73, too is confident that the people of Sikkim have voted for the return of his party, which ruled Sikkim for 25 years, to power.
He is locked in a multi-cornered contest in two assembly constituencies -- Namcheybung and Poklok Kamrang -- and is seeking a record ninth term as an MLA.
(With agency inputs)