Nar Bahadur Bhandari was born in the year 1940. He was a school teacher and rose to the highest post of the state of Sikkim. Nar Bahadur was the founder of the political party Sikkim Sangram Parishad(SSP). The name Nar Bahadur Bhandari is remembered for his contribution to the inclusion of the Nepali language in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India.
He was Honored by the Jagadamba Shree Puraskar for his contribution to the Nepali language. The Jagadamba Shree Puraskar is an honorary award for the contribution in the field of Nepali language art and culture, awarded by the Nepal Government.
Nar Bahadur Bhandari in Politics
In 1977, Bhandari created the Sikkim Janata Parishad. In 1979, his party won the state assembly election, and on October 18, 1979, he was elected chief minister for the first time. In 1984, he ran for the 8th Lok Sabha as an independent candidate from the Sikkim constituency. Nar Bahadur Bhandari disbanded the Sikkim Janata Parishad in 1984 and founded the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP).
In the 1985 assembly elections, this party prevailed, and Nar Bahadur Bhandari was elected chief minister for the second time. The SSP regained power in 1989 after winning the assembly elections. The SSP became the sole party in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, obtaining all 32 seats in a rare event in Indian national politics. Bhandari resigned as chief minister after losing a vote of confidence in the state assembly in 1994.
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The Sikkim Democratic Front, led by Pawan Kumar Chamling, defeated the SSP in legislative elections in 1994. In the 1999 assembly election, the SSP likewise came up short. Bhandari ran for the Congress party in the 2004 state assembly elections, but the party lost the election, earning only one member in the assembly. In May 2007, he was sentenced to one month in prison for corruption.
The Congress party, led by Bahadur Bhandari, failed to win any seats in the state assembly in the 2009 elections. In the 2014 election, his party endorsed a new political party led by PS Golay, known as SKM. Despite his conviction in a corruption case, Bhandari continued to campaign for SKM, which won only 10 seats out of 32.
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Nar Bahadur Bhandari died in 2017 leaving behind his wife and children. He was 77 in his last breath. The demise of Nar Bahadur Bhandari was condoled by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
His Achievements
Free education from elementary to graduate school, the establishment of nearby schools—within a radius of 3 to 4 km—for all residents, the provision of drinking water to every household in Sikkim, the construction of a network of roads to all major villages in Sikkim, the bringing of all rural areas onto the electric grid, and the establishment of vast healthcare centres are among his notable political achievements. Nar Bahadur Bhandari will always be remembered for his contribution to the Nepali Language.
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