Pawan Kumar Chamling Rai (born 22 September 1950[1]) is an Indian politician and writer who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1994 to 2019.

He is the longest serving Chief Minister in India, surpassing Naveen Patnaik[2][3] Chamling is the Founding President of the Sikkim Democratic Front.

Prior to establishing the Sikkim Democratic Front, Chamling served as Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in Nar Bahadur Bhandari's cabinet.

Chamling is also a prolific Nepali language writer, and recipient of the Bhanu Puraskar (2010) awarded by Sikkim Sahitya Parishad.

After being elected for the second time from Damthang, he became the Minister for Industries, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1992 in the Nar Bahadur Bhandari cabinet.

He became the chief minister for a fifth time, a record previously held by Jyoti Basu who ruled West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.