Political Career
Dorjee founded the Sikkim Praja Mandal in 1945 and served as its first president. Dorjee also became president of the Sikkim State Congress in 1953 and served as president until 1958.
In 1962, Dorjee helped to found the Sikkim National Congress political party. The Sikkim National Congress was founded by Dorjee as a non-communal political party. The unity themed political platform of the party helped the Sikkim National Congress to win eight of the eighteen seats up for grabs in Sikkim's third general election. The Sikkim National Congress merged with India's Congress Party in the 1970s following Sikkim's merger with India. Dorjee also formed the Sikkim Council to promote "communcal harmony."
Dorjee was considered to be a key figure in the 1975 union of Sikkim with India. Dorjee served as the first Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1974, the year before the official merger, until 1979.
Dorjee was honoured by the government of India with the Padma Vibhushan in 2002. He was also awarded the Sikkim Ratna by the state government of Sikkim in 2004.
Read more about this topic: Kazi Lhendup Dorjee
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