Pawan Kumar Chamling (English: Pawan Kumar Chamling, born: 22 September, 1950) is the former Chief Minister of the Indian state of Sikkim. He is the founder president of the political party ‘Sikkim Democratic Front’, which has been continuously active in Sikkim politics since 1994. Pawan Chamling created a new record when he took oath as Chief Minister on 21 May 2014. He is the first politician in India who was elected Chief Minister five times in a row in a state.
Pawan Kumar Chamling, the founder of regional political party like Sikkim Democratic Front and the fifth Chief Minister of Sikkim, was born on 22 September 1950 in Yangyang, a small and very backward village of Sikkim. Pawan Kumar Chamling has studied only till matriculation. Before joining politics in the year 1972, he has been a farmer and a first class contractor. Pawan Kumar Chamling is a respected writer of Nepali language. His literary name is Pawan Kumar Chamling ‘Kiran’. Tika Maya Chamling is his second wife. Pawan Kumar Chamling, apart from being a politician, is also a very good writer. Being associated with politics for a long time, Pawan Kumar Chamling has a good understanding of politics.[1]
Pawan Kumar Chamling joined active politics in the year 1973. At the beginning of his political career, he became a member of the Sikkim Prajatantra Party. In the year 1982, he was made the president of Yangyang Gram Panchayat. In the year 1985, Pawan Kumar Chamling won the Sikkim Legislative Assembly elections for the first time. He reached the Assembly for the second time after winning from Damthang constituency in the year 1989. He was given the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Information and Public Relations in the cabinet of then Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari. After going through many good and bad times in Sikkim politics, Pawan Kumar Chamling founded the Sikkim Democratic Front in the year 1993. The Sikkim Democratic Front came to power for the first time after winning the 1994 elections. From the 1994 elections to the 2014 elections, Pawan Kumar Chamling has been made the Chief Minister of the state after winning five consecutive assembly elections.[1]
Pawan Kumar Chamling created a new record by taking oath as Chief Minister on 21 May 2014. He is the first person in the country who has been elected Chief Minister five times in a row in a state. Sikkim Governor Srinivas Patil administered oath to Pawan Chamling and 11 other ministers in the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhavan. It is worth mentioning that in the assembly elections held in Sikkim in the year 2014, Chamling led Sikkim Democratic Party (SDF) won 22 seats in the 32-member assembly and the party got two-third majority. He has been ruling Sikkim for the last 20 years. After taking oath as Chief Minister, Chamling is now going to break the record of late communist leader Jyoti Basu, who was the longest-serving Chief Minister of the country till now. Jyoti Basu held the post of West Bengal for 23 consecutive years from 1977 to 2000.[2]