Tough competition between Nepal, Gupta

By Our Correspondent

Rautahat, Nov. 7: The locals speculate that there will be a tough competition for the seat of House of Representatives (HoR) during the election on November 20 from Rautahat Constituency 1.

The major contenders for the seat are Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal and CPN-UML candidate Ajay Gupta. Gupta is the former mayor of Gaur Municipality.

Gupta had lost against Nepal in the 2013 elections by only 300 votes. Gupta is coordinating with CPN-UML’s Provincial Assembly candidate from the constituency Rajkishor Yadav and conducting door-to-door campaign to win this election.

However, locals argued that Nepal is also a strong candidate and will be difficult to beat. 

Nepal is the common candidate from the ruling coalition and will be receiving support from Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre).

Similarly, Nepal has also been supported by Rewanta Jha, an independent candidate from the constituency in the previous election. 

Jha was a close aide to Nepal but had joined the local party during the Madhes Movement. 

Jha has decided to help Nepal by not giving an independent candidacy for the upcoming elections.

“It is difficult to speculate who will win but a tough competition between Nepal and Gupta is certain,” said Shailendra Gupta, a local and former chairman of Rautahat’s Federation of Nepali Journalists.

“The voters are well aware about the actions and capabilities of the leaders contesting the elections. The elections will be interesting to watch and the result might not be as expected,” said Shailendra.