GANGTOK: Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as PS Golay, was on Monday sworn in as the new chief minister of Sikkim. His party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), won 17 out of the 32 Assembly seats ousting the country’s longest-serving former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), who ruled for over 24 years.
After being sworn in, Golay said his government would work to ensure peace in Sikkim and for the welfare of all sections of people in the Himalayan state.
Golay,51, who graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts from Darjeeling Government College in 1988, started his career as a school teacher in 1990 and served for three years.
Due to his interest in politics and social work, he resigned and started participating in the political activities of SDF.
He was elected to the state Assembly in 1994 on an SDF ticket at the age of 26. He served as minister of various departments for three consecutive terms till 2009.
Golay became a descendant MLA of the SDF party after the Rolu Picnic event that was conducted by employees of Sikkim on 21 December 2009.
The ruling party served a show-cause notice to the government workers who attended the Rolu Picnic.
Following this incident, Golay found the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) party, as opposed to the SDF, on February 4, 2013.
On September 6, 2013, he officially resigned from all SDF party duties and became the president of the SKM party. During the 2014 election, the party gained 10 of the 32 Assembly seats under the leadership of Golay.