Former Sikkim CM Nar Bahadur Bhandari passes away
Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
Imphal, July 16 2017:
Nar Bahadur Bhandari, an obscure school teacher, who rose to become one of the longest-serving Chief Ministers of Sikkim, died today, State Government sources said .
Bhandari, a three-term former Chief Minister, was 77.He is survived by wife Dil Kumari Bhandari, a former MP, two daughters and a son .
He breathed his last at a Delhi hospital this afternoon .
Born in 1940 at Malbasey in West Sikkim, Bhandari was a teacher in a Government school before he joined active politics .
He became the Chief Minister of the tiny Himalyan State for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket.
The founder of the SSP, Bhandari remained its president till his death .
Known as a pragmati and resilient leader, Bhandari was the second Chief Minister after LD Kazi to hold the reins of the fledgling State which officially became a part of the Indian Union in 1975.He was also a former president of Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee .
Chief Minister Pawan Chamling condoled the death of Bhandari .
"I am extremely sad and shocked to know about the untimely demise of Nar Bahadur Bhandari.
With his passing away, Sikkim has lost a worthy son of the soil whose contribution to the State and its people are unparalleled.