Gangtok, June 2 (Reporter) Marking a landslide victory, the P S Tamang-led Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) retained power in Sikkim, grabbing 31 of the state's 32 assembly seats in the vote count on Sunday. The main opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which ruled the tiny Himalayan state for 25 years under the chief ministership of Pawan Kumar Chamling till it was dethroned by the SKM in 2019, had to be content with only one seat won by a deserter from SKM. Both the BJP and the Congress, as also the new regional outfit Citizen Action Party-Sikkim (CAP-S) drew a blank. State Chief Minister and SKM supremo Prem Singh Tamang led from the front winning with 7,000 plus margins from both the seats he contested. In Rhenock, he defeated his SDF rival Som Nath Poudyal, while in Soreng-Chakung, his nearest SDF opponent was A D Subba. In another big win for the SKM, Tamang's wife Krishna Kumari wrested the Namchi-Singhithang seat from the SDF, whose chief Pawan Kumar Chamling is the current MLA from the constituency. However, Chamling did not file nomination from the seat this time, and the SDF candidate Bimal Rai lost by over 5,000 votes in a four-corner contest. State Assembly Speaker Arun Kumar Upreti retained the Arithang seat, defeating his nearest rival Ashish Rai of the Sikkim Democratic Front by over 2700 votes. On the other hand, the SDF got a big jolt as its chief Pawan Kumar Chamling lost from both Poklok-Kamrang and Namcheybung, the two seats he had contested. Chamling, who still holds the record for the longest chief ministerial tenure in independent India, went down to his SKM rivals in the two constituencies. The giant killers were Bhoj Raj Rai (Poklok-Kamrang) and Raju Basnet (Namcheybung). Chamling had won from Poklok-Kamrang too in the 2019 elections, but vacated the seat later, opting to retain Namchi-Singhithang. Another SDF star candidate Bhaichung Bhutia also bit the dust from Barfung (BL-Reserved) seat, which was son by SKM nominee Rikshal Dorjee Bhutia by over 4,300 votes. Bhutia, a former Indian soccer skipper, had merged his Humro Sikkim Party with Chamling's SDF last November. Amidst a sharp decline in popular support, SDF's sole success came from Shyari, where its candidate Tenzing Norbu Lamtha got the better of SKM's KN Lepcha by over 1,300 votes. Lamtha switched to the SDF from SKM recently. Elated after the results, CM Tamang thanked the people and his party workers. "We worked for the people with all our heart. That's why we have won," said the 56-year-old former school teacher, who took over as chief minister in 2019. Altogether 147 candidates were in the fray, with the SKM and SDF fighting all the seats. According to the Election Commission of India, the SKM secured an impressive vote share of 58.38 percent. The SDF got 28.37 percent, less than half of the votes won by the SKM. The BJP, which had gone it alone in the hustings after snapping ties with the SKM, could win only 5.18 percent of the votes. The Congress, which contested a dozen seats, polled 0.32 percent -even less than NOTA. In 2019, the SKM had come to power winning 17 seats against 15 bagged by SDF. The Sikkim Assembly polls were held on April 19...////...