Gangtok, June 27: Sikkim’s first elected Lok Sabha MP Pahalman Subba passed away on Thursday in Gangtok at the age of 90. Subba had been battling a prolonged illness.

Subba won the 1980 election on a Sikkim Janata Party (SJP) ticket and served as an MP until 1984. He was the second MP of Sikkim and the first to win a contested election.

Previously, Congress leader Chhatra Bahadur Chhetri had been elected unopposed in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections after Sikkim joined India.

Subba was a prominent figure in the pro-Sikkim and anti-merger faction led by Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal and former Chief Minister late Nar Bahadur Bhandari. They succeeded in ousting Sikkim’s first Chief Minister Lendup D Kazi’s party from power in 1979, thereby restoring Sikkim’s pride and dignity.

In 1984, Subba led the dissidents within the first Congress Government to oust the then Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari from power. Later, he focused on former Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, who was serving as an MLA in the Bhandari-led Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP). Subba played a key role in unseating Bhandari again in late 1994.

Subba eventually became disillusioned with Chamling and was vocal against his regime as recently as 2018. He was a staunch advocate for the Limboo Tamang communities’ Assembly seat reservation issue.

Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay visited Subba at the hospital on Thursday morning and extended his condolences to Subba’s family, Golay stated, “I offer my prayers for the departed soul to rest in eternal peace.” Tamang paid his respects at the Central Referral Hospital, where Subba passed away, saying, “It was a solemn moment, honouring the memory of a respected individual who was also the first elected MP from Sikkim.”

Subba’s mortal remains will be transported to his ancestral village Timburbung in the Soreng district for cremation on Friday, according to his family. The state government has announced a suspension of all entertainment activities in the state on the day of Subba’s funeral.

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