General elections were held in

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

in May 1953.Hamlet Bareh (2001) ''Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Sikkim'' Mittal Publications, p17 The

Sikkim National Party Sikkim National Party was a political party in the Kingdom of Sikkim, formed in 1950. The Sikkim National Party was in favour of the monarchy and advocated independence for Sikkim. The party was founded to counter the growing influence of the pro ...

and the

Sikkim State Congress The Sikkim State Congress, or ''SSC'', was an annexationist political party in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was founded in 1947 and worked closely with the Indian National Congress (INC) to successfully achieve the annexation of Sikkim to India. Oth ...

both won six seats. Voter turnout was less than 30%.

Electoral system

The State Council was established in 1953 by the

Chogyal The Chogyal ("Dharma Kings", ) were the monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty, . The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1973, and the constitutional monarch from 1973 to 1975, wh ...

.Bareh, p16 It had 18 members, of which 12 were elected and six (including the President) appointed by the Chogyal. Of the 12 elected members, six were for the Nepali community and six for the Lepcha and the

Bhutia The Bhutias (exonym; Nepali: भुटिया, "People from Tibet") or Drejongpas (endonym; , THL: dre-jong pa, "People of the Rice Valley") are a Tibetan ethnic group native to the Indian state of Sikkim who speak Drejongke, a Tibetic ...

communities. Candidates for election to the Council had to be at least 30 years old, whilst the voting age was set at 21. Around 50,000 voters registered for the election.

Results

Constituency-wise

Appointed members

In addition to the elected members, five members were appointed to the Sikkim State Council by the

; John S. Lal (President of the Council and Dewan of Sikkim), Rai Bahadur Densapa, Tekbir Khati, Palda Lama and Hon Lt Prem Bahadur Basnet.

Executive Council

Following the elections, an Executive Council was appointed, which consisted of the President of the Council, John S. Lal and two of the elected members, Sonam Tsering and Kashiraj Pradhan.

References

{{Sikkimese elections Elections in Sikkim

1950s in Sikkim Election and referendum articles with incomplete results May 1953 in Asia