Nahakul Pradhan | |
---|---|
Executive Council of Sikkim | |
In office 1958–1973 | |
Monarchs | Tashi Namgyal,Palden Thondup Namgyal |
Member of the Sikkim State Council | |
In office 1953–1958 | |
Constituency | Pemayangtse |
In office 1958–1967 | |
Constituency | North-Central |
In office 1967–1973 | |
Constituency | East |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Sikkimese |
Political party | Sikkim State Congress Sikkim Janata Congress |
Nahakul Pradhan (born 1918 - 17 June 1973) also known as Nakul Pradhan was a Sikkimese pre-merger politician,pro-democracy leader,a member of the Sikkim State Council and Executive Council of Sikkim serving multiple terms. He was the President of the Sikkim State Congress party and the Editor of Sikkim’s first news magazine Kanchenjunga. [1]
He was born into an aristocratic family of Sikkimese Newar Taksaris,his mother Kanti Pradhan was the grand daughter of Taksari Chandrabir Maskey of Pakyong,who was the Thikadar (Sikkimese feudal lord) of many estates in the former Kingdom of Sikkim. He was a nephew of senior political leader Kashiraj Pradhan of whom his mother was a twin sister. [2] He has four sons and four daughters,the eldest son is Late S.K.Pradhan,a former MLA of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. Journalist Nitesh R Pradhan is his grandson. [3] [2] [4]
He joined in the Indian army in 1939 with active service in West Asia,Italy and Ladakh. He was released from the army in 1949. Thereafter,he joined politics following the path of his maternal uncle Kashiraj Pradhan. He joined the Sikkim State Congress actively taking part in the first struggle for democracy in the year 1949 which led to formation of the first interim government in the erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim headed by Congress Chief Tashi Tshering. In 1953,he was elected as a member in the first ever held Sikkimese general election for the State Council of Sikkim. Thereafter he served in office for many terms till 1973. He also served in Executive Council(equivalent to cabinet) holding the portfolios of Public Works,Excise,Bazaar,Health and Medical departments for multiple terms in the Chogyal regime.[ citation needed ]
In 1967,he took over the leadership of the Sikkim State Congress from his uncle Kashiraj Pradhan. Initially he demanded Sikkim’s merger with India in view of tensions with China on Sikkimese borders. [5] In a change to his previous ideological stand of Sikkim’s merger with India,in 1967,Pradhan along with BB Gurung and Netuk Tshering demanded revision of Indo-Sikkim treaty,1950 stating,"Since Sikkim signed the treaty with India,surely it is within her sovereign rights to demand a revision of the treaty as one of the signatories. In fact,Sikkim gained her Sovereign Status on the 15th August,1947,when India achieved her independence from the British rule. Every country has its inherent right to exist and maintain its separate identity and,therefore,to review and revise its treaty obligations in the wake of changing circumstances." [6]
By late 1950s to the 1970s the Sikkim State Congress was led by him or his uncle Kashiraj Pradhan both serving as President of the party alternatively. Under their leadership the party greatly moderated it’s anti-Chogyal stand and participated in the Royal Sikkimese administration through subsequent wins in elections to the State Council [7]
By the 1970s,Pradhan led Sikkim State Congress demanded for a responsible government under the Chogyal opposing the demands of Kazi Lhendup Dorjee led Sikkim National Congress. [8]
A new party Sikkim Janata Congress was formed in 1972 after the merger of his party Sikkim State Congress with Sikkim Janata Party. However,in 1973 Sikkimese general election his party only won two seats 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. Further,Pradhan also lost his seat to L. D. Kazi. However 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. During this,the three senior most leaders of JAC Pradhan,Kazi Lhendup Dorjee and B. B. Gurung were given shelter at the office of Indian Political Officer. [9]
He passed away suddenly after a cardiac arrest on 17 June 1973 at a peak of the agitation for democratic change in Sikkim. His death was mourned by the Indian Political Officer K.S. Bajpayee,B. B. Gurung,Kazi Lhendup Dorjee and many other leaders of Sikkim. [8]
He was the editor of Sikkim's first monthly news magazine Kanchenjunga(1957),which his maternal uncle Kashiraj Pradhan started. [10]
Sikkim National Congress was a political party in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was founded in 1962, through a merger of Swatantra Dal, Rajya Praja Sammelan, and dissidents of the then-dominant parties, Sikkim State Congress and Sikkim National Party. Kazi Lhendup Dorjee was its leader.
Sikkim Janata Party was a political party in Sikkim. The party was founded in Gangtok on December 18, 1969 founded by Lal Bahadur Basnet. The party was formed after a split in the Sikkim National Congress. Basnet, a well-known journalist and former general secretary of the Sikkim National Congress, served as the president of the party. K.C. Pradhan was the general secretary of the party.
The Sikkim State Congress, or SSC, was an annexationist political party in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was founded in 1947 and worked closely with the Indian National Congress (INC) to successfully achieve the annexation of Sikkim to India. Other parties established by the INC to serve India's interests in its near abroad included the Nepal State Congress Party and the Bhutan State Congress Party.
The history of Sikkim begins with the indigenous Lepcha's contact with early Tibetan settlers. Historically, Sikkim was a sovereign Monarchical State in the eastern Himalayas. Later a protectorate of India followed by a merger with India and official recognition as a state of India. Lepchas were the main inhabitants as well as the Rulers of the land up to 1641. Lepchas are generally considered to be the first people, Indigenous to Sikkim also includes Darjeeling.
Kazi Lhendup Dorjee, 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. 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.
The Kingdom of Sikkim (Classical Tibetan and Sikkimese: འབྲས་ལྗོངས།, Drenjong, Dzongkha: སི་ཀིམ་རྒྱལ་ཁབ།, Sikimr Gyalkhab, officially Dremoshong until the 1800s, was a hereditary monarchy in the Eastern Himalayas which existed from 1642 to 16 May 1975, when it was annexed by India. It was ruled by Chogyals of the Namgyal dynasty.
A referendum on abolishing the monarchy was held in the Kingdom of Sikkim on 14 April 1975. Official results stated the proposal was approved by 97.55% of voters with a turnout of about 63%, and resulted in the country becoming an Indian state.
Bhim Bahadur Gurung was the third Chief Minister of Sikkim. He held office from 11 May until 24 May 1984, the shortest term in the history of Sikkim.
Nar Bahadur Khatiwada is a politician and lawyer from Sikkim.
General elections were held in Sikkim in January 1973. The Sikkim National Party emerged as the largest party, winning nine of the 18 elected seats.
General elections were held in Sikkim on 13 April 1974. They were the first elections in Sikkim to be held on the basis of universal suffrage, and also the last prior to Indian annexation. The result was a victory for the Sikkim National Congress, which won 31 of the 32 seats in the State Council. Kazi Lhendup Dorjee subsequently became Chief Minister. In May 1975 Sikkim became a state of India, at which point the State Council became the Sikkim Legislative Assembly.
Karananda Upreti, better known as K. N. Upreti is an Indian politician in Sikkim.
Kashiraj Pradhan popularly known as Kashi Babu was an Indian pre-merger politician and journalist in Sikkim. He was the President of Sikkim State Congress party, a member of the Sikkim State Council and Executive Council of Sikkim serving multiple terms in office. Known as the Father of Sikkimese journalism, he was the founder and publisher of Sikkim’s first news magazine Kanchenjunga.
Chandra Das Rai popularly known as C.D Rai was a politician of pre merger Sikkim, bureaucrat and former journalist. He was a senior leader in Sikkim State Congress.
Nitesh R Pradhan is an Indian journalist based in Sikkim, India. He is a correspondent for RT. He is formerly Editor of The Voice of Sikkim online web portal and a correspondent for The Statesman. He is also a singer-lyricist as part of pop duo Anisha & Nitesh.
The State Council of Sikkim was the unicameral legislature of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which was located in the Himalayas, between India and China.
Taksaris of Sikkim were owners of minting houses, traders, landed class and their families in the former Kingdom of Sikkim. There were six families – mostly Newars – minting coins for the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom. In the period of British influence, Chogyal of Sikkim gave these families large land estates as Thikadars, a system of hereditary leesee landlords with judicial and administrative power over their respective estates.
Kazis and Thikadars of Sikkim, also known as Ilakadars, were the hereditary feudal lords and the ruling class in former Kingdom of Sikkim. They had administrative and judicial powers within their respective land estates. This system existed since the establishment of the Namgyal dynasty and was further institutionalised under the period of British influence in Sikkim.
Sukumar Pradhan also known as S.K. Pradhan was a member of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for two consecutive terms from 1984 to 1994 representing Central Pendam constituency from Sikkim Sangram Parishad.