Pawan Kumar Chamling made history on April 29, 2018, becoming the longest-serving Chief Minister in the country when he surpassed the record set by the late Jyoti Basu.
Mr. Chamling was sworn in as Sikkim Chief Minister for the record fifth consecutive time on May 21, 2014. April 29 was his 8,539th day in office as Chief Minister of the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom, which had merged with India in 1975.
Basu was Chief Minister for 23 years from June 1977 to November 2000 before he handed over charge to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
In power since December 12, 1994, the 67-year-old Mr. Chamling led his party, the Sikkim Democratic Front, to a two-thirds majority in 2014.
Mr. Chamling, started his political career at the age of 32. He was a Minister in the Nar Bahadur Bhandari government from 1989 to 1992. He formed Sikkim Democratic Front on March 1993. Mr. Chamling is also a poet and lyricist in the Nepali language.
“In the 23 years 4 months and 17 days (which I complete on 29th April, 2018) in Office as the Chief Minister, I have worked with utmost sincerity and commitment. All these years have been spent working relentlessly and tirelessly for the State and the people,” Mr. Chamling said in a Facebook post on crossing the milestone. “I have never taken a day off from my duties, often forgoing my personal commitments.”
The post also has pictures of the five occasions when he was sworn in as Chief Minister.
