The dzongkhag was the first in the country to have a woman gup

LG: Dagana elected eight new gups and six former gups on September 27.

Drujaygang, Khebisa, Tsangkha, Lamoizingkha, Gesarling, Gozhi, Tseza and Dorona gewogs will have new gups whereas Largyab, Karmaling, Nichula, Karna, Tashiding and Tsendagang re-elected their former gups.

Dagana, which was the first dzongkhag to have a woman gup, now has two women gups. Namgay Pelden of Tashiding gewog, the first woman gup of the country is now joined by Pema Wangmo Tamang, from Gesarling gewog.

Namgay Pelden was re-elected by the people of Tashiding in a landslide victory.

“I am delighted that the people of my gewog have trust in me. I will never let them down and will serve them in the best way I can,” she said. “I am excited to have another woman as a gup from another gewog. I will now not be alone during the dzongkhag tshodgu and other occasions.”

She added that she can now continue with her work as soon as she re-joins office.

Former Karna gup for 15 years, Lhawang Dorji, was re-elected.

Lhawang Dorji said that the election results show that the people of his gewog were happy with the works and services he provided. “I will be working in close consultation with the people and will focus more on where the developmental activities are lagging behind,” he said.

The people of Gozhi elected newcomer Tandin who served as a geydrung for the last eight years. “I want to serve my people with utmost dedication and want to serve all the chiwogs equally. Budget will also be allocated equally,” he said.

Drujeygang also went with a new face, Karma Tshering.

The people of Dorona elected a new gup, Suk Raj Rai, and Lhamoizingkha also went with a change with Surja Bahadur Limbo. In Khebisa, Namgay is the new gup.

Tsendagang gewog re-elected its former gup, Bal Bahadur Rana, and Karmaling also did the same with Gyan Bahadur Subba. Largyab re-elected Dhan Bahadur Gurung.  Similarly, Nichula gewog also stuck with its former gup, Dilip Kumar Gurung.

Pema Wangmo Tamang, the former non-formal education instructor defeated the former Gesarling gup, Mani Kumar Ghishing, by 22 votes.

Phurba of Tseza gewog also defeated the former Tseza gup, Jaku, while Tawla overcame Tsangkha’s former gup Dorji.

The total voter turn out was 13,975, including 1,623 postal ballots from a total of 22,843 eligible voters.

Yeshey Dema | Dagana