Nar Bahadur Bhandari

Nar Bahadur Bhandari
2nd Chief Minister of Sikkim
In office 18 October 1979 – 11 May 1984
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	B. B. Gurung
In office 8 March 1985 – 17 June 1994
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Sanchaman Limboo
Personal details
Born	5 October 1940 Malbasay, Soreng, Sikkim, India
Political party	Sikkim Sangram Parishad
Spouse(s)	Dil Kumari Bhandari
Residence	Gangtok, Sikkim, India
Religion	Hinduism

Nar Bahadur Bhandari (Nepali: नर बहादुर भण्डारी) is a former chief minister of the state of Sikkim in India who governed the state from 1979 to 1994. He was the founder leader of Sikkim Sangram Parishad party.

Personal life

Nar Bahadur Bhandari was born on 5 October 1940 in Malbasay village, near Soreng, West Sikkim. He completed his BA degree from Darjeeling Government College and worked as a school teacher for some years before joining politics. His wife Dil Kumari Bhandari is a former member of parliament (Lok Sabha) from Sikkim.

Politics

Bhandari founded the Sikkim Janata Parishad in 1977. This party won the state assembly election held in 1979 and he became the chief minister for the first time on 18 October 1979.^[1] In 1984, he also served briefly as Member of Parliament from Sikkim constituency in the 8th Lok Sabha as an independent candidate. In 1984, Bhandari dissolved the Sikkim Janata Parishad and formed a new party called Sikkim Sangram Parishad. This party contested the assembly elections in 1985 and won, and Bhandari became the chief minister for the second time. In 1989, Sikkim Sangram Parishad returned to power by winning the assembly elections. In 1994, Bhandari lost the vote of confidence in the state assembly and he resigned as chief minister.

In 1994, Bhandari's party Sikkim Sangram Parishad lost the assembly elections to Pawan Kumar Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Front. Sikkim Sangram Parishad also lost the 1999 assembly election. In the 2004 state assembly elections, Bhandari contested under the Congress party but the party lost the election, winning only one seat.^[2] Again in the 2009 assembly elections the Congress party under Bhandari failed to win any seat in the state assembly. But there are cases pending in the court of law regarding the conduct of elections. There are charges of elections being rigged.

Present

Bhandari became the president of the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) after he had merged his party Sikkim Sangram Parishad with the Indian National Congress in 2003. In May 2013, he was reinstated as the president of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad.

References

1. Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: Sikkim (2005), ed. S.C. Bhatt, Gopal K. Bhargava, Kalpaz Publications, page 223.
2. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/ElectionStatistics.asp Election Commission of India - Sikkim Assembly Elections