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2021-12-03T08:47:01Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lhendup Dorjee Khangsarpa
| image = Kazi Lhendup Dorjee .jpg
| caption = Kazi Lhendup Dorjee
| birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1904|10|11}}
| birth_place = Pakyong, [[East Sikkim]], [[Kingdom of Sikkim]] (now [[Sikkim]], [[India]])
| residence = [[Gangtok]], [[Sikkim]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2007|07|28|1904|10|11}}
| death_place = [[Kalimpong]], [[West Bengal]]
| constituency =
| office = 1st [[List of Chief Ministers of Sikkim|Chief Minister of Sikkim]]
| term = 16 May 1975 – 18 August 1979
| governor = B.B. Lal
| predecessor = Office established
| successor = [[Nar Bahadur Bhandari]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]] {{small|(after 1975)}}<br />[[Sikkim National Congress]] {{small|(before 1975)}}
| spouse = Elisa Maria
| religion =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Kazi Lhendup Dorjee''' (11 October 1904 – 28 July 2007<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ugDAAAAMBAJ&q=Kazi+Lhendup+Dorji+Khangsarpa&pg=PT21|title = Pratiyogita Darpan|last1 = Darpan|first1 = Pratiyogita|date = September 2007}}</ref>), also spelled '''Lhendup Dorji''' or '''Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa''', was the first [[chief minister]] of [[Sikkim]] from 1975 to 1979 after its union with India.<ref name=times>{{cite news |title= Sikkim's first Chief Minister Kazi Lhendup Dorjee dies| url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-30/india/27970975_1_minister-pawan-kumar-chamling-kalimpong-in-north-bengal-heart-attack| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121017232614/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-30/india/27970975_1_minister-pawan-kumar-chamling-kalimpong-in-north-bengal-heart-attack| url-status= dead| archive-date= 2012-10-17|work= [[The Times of India]] |date=2007-07-30 |access-date=2007-08-16 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Lhendup Dorjee was born in 1904 in [[Pakyong]], [[East Sikkim]], [[Sikkim]].<ref>[https://www.google.com/search?q=Kazi+Lhendup+Dorji+1904&btnG=Nach+B%C3%BCchern+suchen&tbm=bks&tbo=1&hl=en ''India Who's who'', INFA Publications 2004, p. 247]</ref><ref name=hindu>{{cite news |title= Man who ushered in democracy in Sikkim |url= http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073155101300.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071001061222/http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073155101300.htm|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2007-10-01|work= [[The Hindu]] |date=2007-07-31 |access-date=2007-08-16 }}</ref> He was born into the Khangsarpa family, who were [[Sikkimese people|Sikkimese]] [[nobility]]<ref name=hindu/> and was of [[Bhutia]] origin.<ref>{{citation |title=Sikkim: The Merger with India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2643174?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A465ef9841e1ce78aa7c3a453a28c80ca&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents |quote="State's Chief Minister, Lhendup Dorji is a Bhutia nobleman(Kazi) from the Chogyal's community" |publisher=University of California Press |page=787 |last=Gupta |first=Ranjan |date=September 1975 }}</ref> Dorji Khangsarpa entered the [[Rumtek monastery]] at the age of 6 years. His uncle, Tshurfuk Lama Rabden Dorji was the then Head Lama of the monastery and Dorjee became his disciple. [[Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal]], then Maharaja of Sikkim, while visiting the monastery took a great liking to the hong monk and took him to Gangtok, where he placed him in a Tibetan School. At the age of 16, Dorjee returned to [[Rumtek monastery]] and under strict training for priesthood for two years. Thereafter on completion of his training he succeeded as the Head Lama of Rumtek monastery and its estates on the retirement of Lama Ugen Tenzing. Dorjee remained as the Head Lama in Rumtek monastery for eight years and then left the monastery to work with his brother the late Kazi Phag Tshering, who founded the Young Men Buddhist Association at Darjeeling. The two brothers founded a large number of schools in [[West Sikkim]] and were instrumental in bringing about a number of social and other reforms.

==Political career==
Dorjee founded the Sikkim Praja Mandal in 1945 and served as its first president.<ref name=hindu/> Dorjee also became president of the [[Sikkim State Congress]] in 1953 and served as president until 1958.<ref name=hindu/>

In 1962, Dorjee helped to found the [[Sikkim National Congress]] [[political party]].<ref name=hindu/> The Sikkim National Congress was founded by Dorjee as a non-communal political party. The unity themed political [[Political platform|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]].<ref name=hindu/> The Sikkim National Congress merged with India's [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] in the 1970s following Sikkim's annexation by India. Dorjee also formed the Sikkim Council to promote "communal harmony."<ref name=hindu/>

Dorjee was considered to be a key figure in the 1975 union of [[Sikkim]] with [[India]].<ref name=times/> Dorjee served as the first [[List of Chief Ministers of Sikkim|Chief Minister of Sikkim]] from 1975, the year before the official merger, until 1979.<ref name=times/>
Dorjee was honoured by the government of India with the [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 2002.<ref name=times/> He was also awarded the [[Sikkim Ratna]] by the state government of [[Sikkim]] in 2004.<ref name=times/>

==Kazini Elisa Maria==
Dorjee's wife, Kazini Elisa Maria, formerly Elisa-Maria Langford-Rae, was a Belgian aristocrat and divorcee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/businessline/2001/01/03/stories/040355su.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020316053214/http://www.hinduonnet.com/businessline/2001/01/03/stories/040355su.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 March 2002 |author=Sunanda K. Datta-Ray |author-link=Sunanda K. Datta-Ray |title=The Nepal Realpolitik |publisher=The Hindu Businessline |date=3 January 2001}}</ref> She was of Scottish extraction and had studied law at [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh University]]. She converted to Buddhism and took [[Sangharakshita]] as her teacher.<ref>Dharmachari Subhuti, Subhuti ''Bringing Buddhism to the West: A Life of Sangharakshita'' Windhorse Publications, 1995 {{ISBN|0-904766-69-1}}</ref><ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/02dhar.htm Maloy Krishna Dhar ''If not for him, Sikkim wouldn't be a part of India'' Rediff India Abroad The Rediff Special 2 August 2007]</ref> In the 1920s she had been in [[Burma]] where for a while she was unsuccessfully pursued by the author [[George Orwell]].<ref>Michael Shelden ''Orwell: The Authorised Biography'' William Heinemann 1991</ref> Her birth name may have been Ethel Maud Shirran, according to her granddaughter.<ref>(http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/family/Ethel_is_Elisa.htm)</ref>

==Death==
Dorjee died of a [[heart attack]] on 28 July 2007 at his home in [[Kalimpong]], [[North Bengal]] in the Indian State of [[West Bengal]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121017232614/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-07-30/india/27970975_1_minister-pawan-kumar-chamling-kalimpong-in-north-bengal-heart-attack "Sikkim's first Chief Minister Kazi Lhendup Dorjee dies"], ''[[The Times of India]]'' 30 July 2007</ref><ref name=times/> Kalimpong is located just across the state border from Sikkim. Dorjee was {{age in years and days|1904|10|11|2007|07|28}} at the time of his death. Though he died of a heart attack, Dorjee had been suffering from [[liver]] problems for several years.<ref name=times/>

Dorjee's funeral took place at the [[Rumtek Monastery]] in [[Sikkim]] on 3 August 2007.<ref name=times/>

The [[List of Chief Ministers of Sikkim|Chief Minister of Sikkim]] at the time, [[Pawan Kumar Chamling]], called Dorjee a distinguished statesman who helped to motivate Chamling to join Sikkim's democracy movement in 1973.<ref name=times/>

[[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]] released a statement following Dorjee's death saying, "I am deeply shocked and grieved to learn of the sad demise of Shri Kazi Lhendup Dorjee Khang Serpa, the first Chief Minister of Sikkim. He played a historic role as the architect of Sikkim's accession to the Indian Union and had the distinction of spearheading the State as its first Chief Minister from 1974 to 1979. The pride of place occupied by Sikkim as an important State of our country and its impressive progress in many spheres owe a lot to numerous policies initiated by him. In his unfortunate passing away the country in general and the State of Sikkim in particular has lost a veteran public figure whose many sided contributions to nation building endeared him to the people."<ref name=press>{{cite news |title= PM Condoles The Death of Shri Kazi Lhendup Dorjee | url= http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=29521|publisher= [[Press Information Bureau]] [[Government of India]] |date=2007-07-31 |access-date=2007-08-16 }}</ref>

== Electoral record ==
; [[Sikkim Legislative Assembly]] election
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Constituency
! Political party
! Result
! Position
! Votes
! % Votes
! % Margin
! Deposit
! Source
|-
| [[1979 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election|1979]]
| [[Djongu (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Djongu]]
| JNP
| Lost
| 2nd/4
| 503
| 26.63
| -19.16
| refunded
| <ref>{{cite web|title=STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1979 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM|url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3354-sikkim-1979/|publisher=ECI|access-date=18 November 2019|year=1979}}</ref>
|-
| [[1985 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election|1985]]
| [[Ralong (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Ralong]]
| [[Indian National Congress|INC]]
| Lost
| 2nd/7
| 576
| 22.88
| -44.54
| refunded
| <ref>{{cite web|title=STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1985 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SIKKIM|url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3356-sikkim-1985/|publisher=ECI|access-date=18 November 2019|year=1985}}</ref>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Chief Ministers of Sikkim}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorjee, Kazi Lhendup}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Sikkim]]
[[Category:Indian centenarians]]
[[Category:Men centenarians]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs]]
[[Category:People from East Sikkim district]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Sikkim politicians]]

Kazi Lhendup Dorjee - Revision history

->Lancepark at 08:47, 3 December 2021