Sikkim Janata Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

. The party was founded in

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of . The city's populat ...

on December 18, 1969 founded by

Lal Bahadur Basnet Lal Bahadur Basnet (Sikkimese Nepali: लाल बहादुर बस्नेत) (17 December 1926 – 5 May 1998) was a politician and a leader of the Pro-Democracy Movement in the erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim. Personal life Lal ...

. The party was formed after a split in the

Sikkim National Congress Sikkim National Congress ( SNC) was a political party in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was founded in 1962, through a merger of Swatantra Dal, Rajya Praja Sammelan, and dissidents of the then dominant parties, Sikkim State Congress and Sikkim Nati ...

. Basnet, a well-known journalist and former general secretary of the Sikkim National Congress, served as the president of the party. K.C. Pradhan was the general secretary of the party. Ideologically the party was committed to

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, democracy and the unity of the Sikkimese people. The party was active in the struggle for democratic reforms. It demanded Sikkim adopt a written constitution. The party was mainly supported by Nepali community. The party suffered from weak organization and lack of financial backing. The party contested four seats in the fourth general election of 1970. Basnet had himself contested two seats in the election. Compared to other opposition parties, the Sikkim Janata Party took more radical postures. During the election campaign the party called for revision of the 1950 India-Sikkim Peace Treaty, calling for greater autonomy for Sikkim (positions shared with the Sikkim National Congress 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. ...

). The party condemned the 1950 treaty as a 'slander on Sikkim'. Karma Lama of the Sikkim Janata Party contested the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

seat, finishing in second place with 46 votes (10.31%). Following the election, in which the party failed to win any seats, Basnet resigned from the party presidency and left the party. Another key leader of the party, B.B. Gurung, also renounced his membership. After these departures, K.C. Pradhan became the main leader of the party. On August 15, 1972 SJP reached an agreement with the

to merge the two parties. The merger was completed on October 26, 1972, with the formation of the

Sikkim Janata Congress Sikkim Janata Congress (translation: ''Sikkim Popular Congress'') was a political party in Sikkim, active in the struggle for democratic reforms. SJC was founded when the Sikkim State Congress and Sikkim Janata Party Sikkim Janata Party was a po ...

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in Sikkim Political parties established in 1969 Political parties disestablished in 1972 1969 establishments in Sikkim 1972 disestablishments in Asia