He won and beat the candidate of Janata Party, incumbent chief minister of Sikkim, Kazi Lhendup Dorjee.
Athup Lepcha appointed to the State Minister for Forest and Environment in Nar Bahadur Bhandari ministry.
In 1994 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, Athup Lepcha couldn’t get any political parties’ ticket, and stood as an independent candidate.
Athup Lepcha turned to the environmental protection movement, and he became the president of "Affected Citizens of Teesta" (ACT), Non-governmental organization for environment and biodiversity.
[4] In 2019 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, he stood as a candidate of HSP from Djongu 5th times, he secured 88 votes (1.04%) with 4th position.