Pawan Kumar Chamling

Pawan Kumar Chamling Rai (born 22 September 1950¹) is an Indian politician and writer of Sikkimese descent who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim from 12 December 1994 to 26 May 2019. He is the longest serving Chief Minister in India, surpassing Naveen Patnaik.²³ Chamling is the Founder-President of the Sikkim Democratic Front.⁴⁵ He also served as the Leader of the opposition, Sikkim Legislative Assembly in the year of 2019. He represented the Namchi-Singhithang constituency in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly since 2019 till 2024 and the Damthang constituency from 1985 to 1994. Prior to establishing the Sikkim Democratic Front, Chamling served as Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in Nar Bahadur Bhandari's cabinet.

Personal life

Chamling was born in Yangang, South Sikkim to Nepali parents Ash Bahadur Chamling Rai and Asha Rani Chamling Rai. Chamling is also a prolific Nepali language writer, and recipient of the Bhanu Puraskar (2010) awarded by Sikkim Sahitya Parishad. He writes under the pen name Pawan Chamling. Mr. Chamling has two wives and 8 children (4 sons and 4 daughters).⁶⁷⁸

Political career

Chamling was elected as the president of Yangang Gram Panchayat in 1982. In 1985, he was elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for the first time. After being elected for the second time from , he became the Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in the cabinet. After a series of major political upheavals in Sikkim, Chamling formed the on 4 March 1993.