Barred by law from contesting elections for six years after completing his one-year prison term in a graft case in 2018, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang’s disqualification was sharply reduced to just a year and a month by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday. While he did not contest the Sikkim Assembly elections held earlier this year, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) leader and BJP ally was appointed as Chief Minister. Following the ECI order, he will now be eligible to contest polls. Responding to the the ECI order, Jagdeep S. Chhokar, a founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms, said the order was “not conducive to reducing criminalisation of politics”. He added that the issue of Mr. Tamang not contesting elections and the ECI citing socio-economic-political factors were “not germane to the issue”.

Source: The Hindu September 29, 2019 12:23 UTC