Kazi Lhendup Dorjee

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Lhendup Dorjee Khangsarpa
Chief Minister of Sikkim
In office
16 May 1975 – 18 August 1979
GovernorB. B. Lal
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byNar Bahadur Bhandari
Prime Minister of Sikkim
In office
23 July 1974 – 16 May 1975
MonarchPalden Thondup Namgyal
Preceded bypost established; Brajbir Saran Das as Chief Administration Officer
Succeeded byoffice abolished
Executive Council of Sikkim
In office
1967–1970
MonarchPalden Thondup Namgyal
ConstituencyWest
Personal details
Born(1904-10-11)11 October 1904
Pakyong,
East Sikkim, Kingdom of Sikkim (now Sikkim, India)
Died28 July 2007(2007-07-28) (aged 102)
Kalimpong, West Bengal
Political partyIndian National Congress (after 1975)
Other political
affiliations		Sikkim National Congress (before 1975)
SpouseElisa Maria
Residence(s)Gangtok, Sikkim, India

Kazi Lhendup Dorjee (11 October 1904 – 28 July 2007[1]), also spelled Lhendup Dorji or Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa was an Indian politician who was the first chief minister of Sikkim from 1975 to 1979 after its union with India.[2] He was the first Prime Minister of Sikkim from 1974 to 1975. He also served as the Executive Council of Sikkim from 1967 to 1970. He was a member of INC after 1975 and Sikkim National Congress before 1975.

Early life

Lhendup Dorjee was born in 1904 in

West Sikkim
and were instrumental in bringing about a number of social and other reforms.

Political career

Dorjee founded the Sikkim Praja Mandal in 1945 and served as its first president.[4] Dorjee also became president of the Sikkim State Congress in 1953 and served as president until 1958.[4]

In 1962, Dorjee helped to found the

platform of the party helped the Sikkim National Congress to win eight of the eighteen seats up for grabs in Sikkim's third general election.[4] He also served in the Executive Council of Sikkim after fourth Sikkimese general elections
.

In 1973 Sikkimese general election amid allegations of vote rigging in South Sikkim in which Sikkim National Party emerged as the single largest party due to inequalities of the electoral system, the two main opposition Kazi led Sikkim National Congress and Sikkim Janata Congress boycotted the Executive Council and began fresh agitation for electoral reforms under “One Man One Vote” principle. Chogyal arrested Janata Congress President KC Pradhan on 27 March 1973. This led to mass protests against the Chogyal in Gangtok. A Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed between Sikkim National Congress and Sikkim Janata Congress intensifying the agitation in Sikkim. The three senior most leaders of JAC, Kazi along with Nahakul Pradhan and B. B. Gurung were given shelter at the office of Indian Political Officer.[6]

The Sikkim National Congress merged with India's Congress Party in the 1970s following Sikkim's annexation by India. Dorjee also formed the Sikkim Council to promote "communal harmony."[4]

Dorjee was considered to be a key figure in the 1975 union of

Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1975, the year before the official merger, until 1979.[2]
Dorjee was honoured by the government of India with the Padma Vibhushan in 2002.[2] He was also awarded the Sikkim Ratna by the state government of Sikkim in 2004.[2]

Kazini Elisa Maria

Dorjee's wife, Kazini Elisa Maria, formerly Elisa-Maria Langford-Rae, was a Belgian aristocrat and divorcee.

Burma where for a while she was unsuccessfully pursued by the author George Orwell.[10] Her birth name may have been Ethel Maud Shirran, according to her granddaughter.[11]

Death

Dorjee died of a

heart attack on 28 July 2007 at his home in Kalimpong, North Bengal in the Indian State of West Bengal.[12][2] Kalimpong is located just across the state border from Sikkim. Dorjee was 102 years, 290 days at the time of his death. Though he died of a heart attack, Dorjee had been suffering from liver problems for several years.[2]

Dorjee's funeral took place at the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim on 3 August 2007.[2]

The

Chief Minister of Sikkim at the time, Pawan Kumar Chamling, called Dorjee a distinguished statesman who helped to motivate Chamling to join Sikkim's democracy movement in 1973.[2]

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released a statement following Dorjee's death saying, "I am deeply shocked and grieved to learn of the sad demise of Shri Kazi Lhendup Dorjee Khang Serpa, the first Chief Minister of Sikkim. He played a historic role as the architect of Sikkim's accession to the Indian Union and had the distinction of spearheading the State as its first Chief Minister from 1974 to 1979. The pride of place occupied by Sikkim as an important State of our country and its impressive progress in many spheres owe a lot to numerous policies initiated by him. In his unfortunate passing away the country in general and the State of Sikkim in particular has lost a veteran public figure whose many sided contributions to nation building endeared him to the people."[13]

Electoral record

Sikkim Legislative Assembly election
Year Constituency Political party Result Position Votes % Votes % Margin Deposit Source
1979
Djongu
 JNP Lost 2nd/4 503 26.63 -19.16 refunded [14]
1985 Ralong INC Lost 2nd/7 576 22.88 -44.54 refunded [15]

References

  1. ^ Darpan, Pratiyogita (September 2007). "Pratiyogita Darpan".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sikkim's first Chief Minister Kazi Lhendup Dorjee dies". The Times of India. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  3. ^ India Who's who, INFA Publications 2004, p. 247
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Man who ushered in democracy in Sikkim". The Hindu. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  5. JSTOR 2643174
    , State's Chief Minister, Lhendup Dorji is a Bhutia nobleman(Kazi) from the Chogyal's community
  6. ^ "Mission RAW".
  7. ^ Sunanda K. Datta-Ray (3 January 2001). "The Nepal Realpolitik". The Hindu Businessline. Archived from the original on 16 March 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ISBN 0-904766-69-1
  9. ^ Maloy Krishna Dhar If not for him, Sikkim wouldn't be a part of India Rediff India Abroad The Rediff Special 2 August 2007
  10. ^ Michael Shelden Orwell: The Authorised Biography William Heinemann 1991
  11. ^ "How we know the Kazini was Ethel Maud Shirran".
  12. ^ "Sikkim's first Chief Minister Kazi Lhendup Dorjee dies". The Times of India. 30 July 2007.
  13. ^ "PM Condoles The Death of Shri Kazi Lhendup Dorjee". Press Information Bureau Government of India. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  14. ^ "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1979 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1979. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. ^ "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1985 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM". ECI. 1985. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
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