Sikkim State Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Disbanded | 1975 |
| Succeeded by | Sikkim Legislative Assembly |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 32 |
Length of term | 3 years |
| Elections | |
State Councilvoting system | First-past-the-post |
First State Council election | 1953 |
Last State Council election | 1974 |
| Meeting place | |
| Gangtok,Sikkim | |
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TheState Council of Sikkim was the unicamerallegislature of the formerKingdom of Sikkim, which was located in theHimalayas, betweenIndia andChina.
There were six elections held for the council between 1953 and 1974. In 1975, after areferendum to abolish the monarchy, and the passing of the 36th amendment to the Indian constitution, themonarchy was abolished, along with the State Council. The territory of the kingdom was merged with India, becoming its 22nd state. The members of the State Council at the time, were deemed to be theLegislative Assembly of the newly formed state.
The council was composed of some elected members and some nominated by theChogyal. After the1973 election, the composition was changed and the appointments by theChogyal were eliminated, while at the same time the number of seats in the council was increased.[1]
From among the State Council members, an Executive Council (equivalent to acabinet of ministers) was chosen by theChogyal. The Executive Council was presided over by theDewan of Sikkim,[2] and each member within it was given individual government responsibilities.[3]
The State Council of Sikkim existed since at least the late 19th century.[4] It was an advisory and executive body, and was presided by theChogyal (King). After theIndependence of neighbouring India in August 1947, various political bodies in Sikkim began to demand greater say in the kingdom's administration.[5] In 1952, theChogyal conceded and announced new constituencies, for an election in 1953.[2][6]
TheChogyal agreed to have 12 (out of 18) seats on the council, be electable. The other six were appointed by the Chogyal. Under a parity formula agreed upon by the political groups, six of the electable seats were to be for theSikkim Nepalis and the other six for theBhutia-Lepcha (BL) people. There were four constituencies drawn up of the kingdom, and elections were to be held in 1953.[2] In the1953 election, all the Nepali-reserved seats were won by theSikkim National Party, while the BL-reserved seats were won by theSikkim State Congress.[7][8]
Although the term of the Council was set as three years, the Chogyal decided to extend the term of the first Council, until 1958.[9] Due to requests from the monastery associations, and other groups, the number of electable seats on the council was increased by two:one for theSangha, to be voted on by the monks, and one seat that was not reserved for any particular group.[10][11] In the elections of1958, the Sikkim State Congress won an additional seat, while the unreserved seat was won by anIndependent.[6]
The second council's term was due to end in 1961, but the outbreak of theSino-Indian war led to the extension of its term till 1967. Before the1967 election, the constituencies were redrawn and increased to five, and four more electable seats were added to the council: one each for the Sikkim Nepalis and the Bhutia-Lepcha, one for theTsong, and one for people of theScheduled Castes.[10][12]
After the 1973 elections, theSikkim National Congress andSikkim Janata Congress claimed thatvote rigging took place in the South Sikkim constituency.[13] They demanded that officials involved be arrested, but these demands were not met, leading to protests.[6] The unrest led to the signing of a tripartite agreement, on 8 May, between theChoygal, Sikkimese political parties, and thegovernment of India. The agreement led to the establishment of a government, supervised by a Chief Executive, who was nominated by the Indian government.[8] It also necessitated another delimitation exercise, where the Chogyal-appointed seats in the council were abolished, the State Council was renamed to the Sikkim Assembly, and thirty-one new constituencies were drawn, along with one constituency for the monasteries (Sangha). Keeping to the parity formula of 1952, 15 of the constituencies were reserved for the Bhutia-Lepcha, and 15 for the Sikkim-Nepalis. The other remaining constituency was for the Scheduled Castes. The principle of "one-man one-vote" was applied.[1] In the1974 election, theSikkim National Congress (which was in favour of Sikkim's merger with India), won an absolute majority with 31 of the 32 seats.[14]
In May 1974, the council passed theGovernment of Sikkim Act, which provided for responsible government, and furthering relations with India.[15] This was followed, in July, by them adopting a new constitution that provided for the country becoming a state of India. The Chogyal signed this constitution under pressure from the Indian government.[16] TheLok Sabha then voted in favour of making Sikkim an "associate" state. TheRajya Sabha voted for an amendment on 8 September, giving it a status equal to that of other states, and absorbing it in the Indian Union.[17][18] On 8 September, the Chogyal cited "widespread Sikkimese misgivings over the bill", and called for a free and fair referendum. TheSikkimese Students Association echoed his call for a referendum.[19]
In March 1975, the Sikkim National Congress repeated its calls for integration into India, while the Chogyal again called for a referendum.[16] On 9 April 1975, Indian troops entered the country, disarmed the palace guard (killing one of them, and injuring four others)[20] and surrounded the palace,[21] putting the king under house arrest.[22] The next day, the Council passed a Bill, declaring the office of the Chogyal as abolished, and called for a referendum on this issue, which was scheduled to be held four days later.[23] On 14 April, thereferendum took place, resulting in more than 97% of the votes in favor of abolishing the monarchy.[16] On 26 April the Indian parliament passed the 36th amendment to the constitution, which transformed Sikkim from an Indian protectorate to a new state within the Indian union.[24][25][26]
On 15 May, theIndian PresidentFakhruddin Ali Ahmed ratified the constitutional amendment (36th) that made Sikkim the 22nd state of India, and abolished the position of the Chogyal.[27] The State Council was considered to be dissolved, and its members were deemed to be the newLegislative Assembly of Sikkim.[28] Following this,B. B. Lal took charge as the Governor of the state on 16 May.[29]
| Election Year | Pro-Independence | Pro-Merger[a] | Other/ Unknown | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appointed | SNP | ||||
| 1953 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| 1958 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 20 | |
| 1967 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 24 | |
| 1970 | 8 | 7 | 3 | ||
| 1973 | 9 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 1974 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 32 |
| Year | Details | Constituencies | Seats | Elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nepali | BL | Others | Appointed | Total | ||||
| 1952 | Elections were announced for a new State Council, with 12 (out of 18) elected members.[2] | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 1953 |
| 1958 | Seats in the State Council were increased to 20.[11] | 4 | 6 | 6 | 2[a] | 6 | 20 | 1958 |
| 1966 | The "Representation of Sikkim Subjects Regulation, 1966" was passed.[12] The number of constituencies in the council was increased to 5. | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4[b] | 6 | 24 | 1967,1970 and1973 |
| 1974 | "The Government of Sikkim Act, 1974" was passed.[1] Multi-seat constituencies were eliminated. | 32 | 15 | 15 | 2[c] | 0 | 32 | 1974 |
The Dewas shall be the president of the Executive Council ...
The defeated parties alleged polling in Rabong, in South Sikkim, was rigged in the favour of the SNP candidate
The First Sikkim Assembly formed through the election held in 1974 with 32 members is deemed to be the First Legislative Assembly of Sikkim ... Sikkim Congress led by Kazi Lhendup Dorjee won 31 seats and one seat went in favour of Sikkim National Party.
... the Assembly for Sikkim formed as a result of the elections held in Sikkim in April, 1974 ... shall be deemed to be the Legislative Assembly of the State of Sikkim
| New institution | Sikkim State Council 1953–1975 | Succeeded by |
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