Late Nar Bahadur Bhandari, former Chief Minister of the State of Sikkim, was born on October 5, 1940, in Malbasey, a small village in West Sikkim belonging to the Soreng sub-division. He received his schooling in Soreng and Namchi before graduating from Darjeeling Government College in West Bengal. During his university days, he actively participated in numerous literary, social, and student welfare-related events.
Before entering politics, he worked as a teacher. He started working for the Sikkim Government Service as a teacher and held teaching posts at several schools in Sikkim, including Soreng School, Chakung Senior Secondary School, Rangli Junior High School, Namchi Senior Secondary School, and West Point School in Gangtok. During the pro-democracy revolution of 1974, he gave up his position as a teacher and entered politics.
Before Sikkim became a democracy, it was a monarchy, and Nar Bahadur Bhandari was instrumental in persuading the locals to abandon the monarchy in favour of democracy. He reportedly didn’t take much interest in state politics as he was a teacher, which led to him losing his first election. Although throughout his political career he worked to improve and reform the education system in Sikkim.
As Chief Minister of Sikkim, he approved 1400 schools at a time. Nar Bahadur Bhandari was described by Arjun Piyush, a journalist of the Hamro Prajashakti Patrika, as the Chief Minister who laid the foundation of education in Sikkim. Most of the present government schools in Sikkim were established during the tenure of Bhandari’s government.
Today, virtually every Indian citizen of Nepali descent has a special place in his heart for Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who was instrumental in bringing together linguistic and cultural diversity by including the Nepali language into the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Read about the Nepali Bhasha Aandolan
It was a difficult road that ended on August 20, 1992, with the conclusion of the “Nepali Bhasha Manyata Aandolan.” Nar Bahadur Bhandari and his wife, Dil Kumari Bhandari, who was a member of parliament at the time, spearheaded an agitation or campaign to have the Nepali language added to the Indian Constitution’s 8th Schedule. The persistent demands of the Nepali-speaking Indian population had the least impact on the prevailing central governments. The agitation’s leaders decided to bring together various political parties and their leaders in order to make a unified demand and express their displeasure with the government’s rejection of their demands after observing this odd behaviour on the part of the government.
Dil Kumari and Nar Bahadur Bhandari are both referred to as Bhasha Sangramis for their efforts. During a two-day assembly of the Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Bhasha Sammelan in Gangtok, Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari established a second formal organisation, the Bharatiya Nepali Rashtriya Parishad.
Due to the fact that he married off his daughters to families from various castes, Nar Bahadur Bhandari is also known as Jaat Binako Manche, or a person without any caste. He held the view that there are only two castes in human existence: male and female. He respected all religions and went to all places of worship. He is also revered for advocating for inter-communal unity by incorporating the slogan “Nebhola” and standing up for the brotherhood of the Nepali, Bhutia, and Lepcha populations.
His Political Career in Sikkim
Moving on to his political career, Nar Bahadur Bhandari established the Sikkim United Independent Front in 1974 but lost his first election, which was conducted during Sikkim’s monarchy. When Sikkim became a recognized state of India in 1975, the situation changed. Nar Bahadur Bhandari opposed this choice and expressed his opposition to the merger. He was detained for this reason in 1976 and transferred to Behrampur Jail under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. In 1977, following his release, he founded the Sikkim Janta Parishad, another political group.
On October 18, 1979, Nar Bahadur Bhandari was appointed chief minister of Sikkim for the first time after the party won the state elections. However, despite having the support of the majority in the legislative assembly, his government was overthrown in 1984 on the grounds of corruption allegations.
In the same year, he served as a representative in the 8th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. He disbanded the Sikkim Janta Parishad once more in 1984 and established the Sikkim Sangram Parishad, a new party. When the party won the election in 1985, Nar Bahadur Bhandari became the state’s chief minister for a second time. But soon after taking office, he resigned, and his wife, Dil Kumari Bhandari, was handed his seat in the Lok Sabha without a contest.
His SSP party won the elections once more in 1989, but this time it did so with a record victory of all 32 seats in the legislative assembly. For the third time, Nar Bahadur Bhandari was appointed Chief Minister of Sikkim. state assembly. Ten years later, in 2014, his party backed Prem Singh Tamang, the current chief minister of Sikkim, and his Sikkim Krantikarti Morcha. On the Singtam Foundation Day for SKM on February 4, 2017, Nar Bahadur Bhandari delivered his final address.
His Achievements in Sikkim
Although Nar Bahadur Bhandari is best known today for his contributions to the Nepali language and among the Nepali-speaking community, Sikkim has seen his accomplishments in the area of education during his time as chief minister that cannot be disregarded, including providing free education for elementary through graduate schools, establishing schools within a three- to four-kilometre radius for Sikkim residents, providing access to drinking water in every home, connecting outskirts through an electric grid and the establishment of health centres, and building a network of roads in the state.
Bhandari as a littérateur
Nar Bahadur Bhandari was a littérateur because of his passion for reading and writing. He is the author of a number of works, including Hamro Pukar (Our Voice), the first entire literary periodical in Nepal edited by a Sikkimese. He has also had a significant impact on the creation of the tabloid Teesta Rangit and the biweekly Aaja ko Sikkim, both of which are produced in collaboration with R. Moktan and Churchill Subba.
He also contributed to the 1973 edition of the Nepali literary journal Archana. Additionally, he has shown support for the opening of Pine Printers, a press. He also wrote Tuhuro Ka Bichar Haru (Thoughts of an Orphan) in 1988, and Nar Bahadur Bhandari Ka Kehi Rachana Haru is one of his best-known works (Few Writings of Nar Bahadur Bhandari). A passionate sports fan who loved football, volleyball, and badminton in addition to being a writer, teacher, and politician, Bhandari is also regarded as one of the best orators in the Nepali language.
After his demise on 16th July 2017, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi condoled and praised his role in Sikkim’s progress –
Prem Singh Tamang, the chief minister of Sikkim, declared the fifth of October, the anniversary of Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s birth, a state holiday in 2019. He also released the book Atal Bhandari, which is a compilation of writings about the late Nar Bahadur Bhandari.
Three times serving as Sikkim’s chief minister, Nar Bahadur Bhandari was a man of honour and well-liked by all. He served as both a spokesperson for the general population and a leader who addressed crucial topics in public discourse. He is revered among the Nepali-speaking population in India as a leader who was crucial in ensuring that the Nepali language was included in the Indian constitution.
