Gangzur-Minjey constituency in Lhuntse saw a total of 5,447 voter turnout of the total 8,395 voters registered for the primary round.
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa’s (DNT) candidate, Kinga Penjor, won after securing the highest votes at 2,134 votes (1,091 PB + 1,043 EVM), followed by Druk Phuensum Tshogpa’s (DPT) candidate, Tshering Dorji, who secured 1,504 votes (828 PB + 676 EVM), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sonam Jatsho, secured 1,302 (558 PB + 744 EVM) and Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party’s candidate, Karma Jimba, secured 507 votes (256 PB + 251 EVM).
Kinga Penjor said that his confidence and eloquent delivery of speeches and conveying the party’s messages clearly helped him win from his constituency. Moreover, he said the Bhutanese electorate believed in DNT’s mission, vision and objectives. “My win should be credited to the combined effort of everyone involved. Foremost are the party supporters, and the president who conducted himself very well over the past days, and enhanced the party’s overall impression with his simple and effective messages.”
As for any plans on lobbying for support from the PDP and BKP voters, Kinga Penjor said that although he doesn’t have strategic plans in place, however, he plans on convincing the people with DNT’s ideology and manifesto. “I would like to take a simplistic approach of explaining the party’s mandate and vision thoroughly to the people, and offering them various areas of developmental activities according to the need in my constituency,” said Kinga Penjor.
DPT’s candidate from Maenbi-Tsaenkhar, Choki Gyeltshen, won after securing a total of 1,951 votes (914 PB + 1037 EVM), followed by DNT’s Tshering Phuntsho with 1,620 votes (PB 935 + EVM 685), PDP’s candidate and former agriculture minister with 1,216 votes (558 PB + 744 EVM) and BKP secured 440 votes (261 PB + 179 EVM).
Choki Gyeltshen said that DPT won due to the people’s trust in the party’s vision and mission. “I feel people liked our party’s ideology and approach. Personally, I lived in Lhuntse for 6 years and I have clean record without involving in corruption and nepotism. Moreover, I am a hardworking individual and delivered visible result over the time. As someone born and brought up in a rural village, I know the problems at grassroots, so that could be another factor.”