Gangtok: Sikkim will go to Assembly and Lok Sabha polls simultaneously on April 11, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ravindra Telang said on Sunday. The polls in the Himalayan state would be held on the first of the seven-phase election in the country. Sikkim has 4,23,325 voters who will exercise their franchise to elect 32 members of the Assembly and the lone Lok Sabha member.

In the state, Chamling, the longest-serving chief minister in the country, has been heading the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government since December 1994. He had made an appeal to the people to elect him for another term in the next Assembly election.

The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect after the announcement of the poll schedule by the Election Commission in New Delhi. This year, nearly 90 crore voters would be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.

Announcing the schedule for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission said the voter-verifiable paper audit trail' (VVPAT) will be used in all polling stations this time.

Lok Sabha election 2014

The Lok Sabha election in Sikkim was conducted on 12 April 2014 for the lone parliamentary constituency of the state where Prem Das Rai won with a margin of 41,742. The electoral roll for the general election in Sikkim had 3,70,065 enlisted electors, of which 80.97% turned up to ballot. On the day of polling, 80.57% male turnout and 81.40% female turnout was witnessed in Sikkim.

Lok Sabha election 2009

In 2009, Prem Das Rai of Sikkim Democratic Front had won the lone seat in Sikkim.

Lok Sabha election 2004

Nakul Das Rai won the seat in the 2004 election. He was a member of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) political party.