Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as P S Golay, took oath as the chief minister of Sikkim on Monday.
The 51-year-old Golay was administered the oath by Governor Ganga Prasad at Paljor Stadium.
Former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling government was ousted by the SKM after over 24 years. Hundreds of SKM supporters were present at the stadium when he was taking the oath in Nepali language.
The SKM chief, along with the 17 newly-elected legislators of his party, on Saturday had called on the governor and staked claim to form the next government in Sikkim.
The governor had reportedly told the SKM delegation to wait for his decision as he sought legal opinion on the matter as Golay had been convicted to a year’s imprisonment in a corruption case in 2016 and had served the prison term, sources said.
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After getting the legal opinion, the governor invited Golay to form the next government, the Raj Bhavan source added.
Founded in 2013, the SKM won a slender majority in the 32-member Sikkim legislative assembly by bagging 17 seats against 15 won by the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).
Golay did not contest the assembly polls to devote all his time to campaign for his party.
(With agency inputs)