Thakur, Yadav, Kapar in tripartite race

By Mahesh Kumar Das

Jaleshwor, Nov. 9: President of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party Nepal (LSP-N) Mahantha Thakur, who is standing for a seat in the House of Representatives from Mahottari Constituency 3 for the second time, is facing tough competition from his former party Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal’s alliance with CPN (UML) and independent candidates.

Voters The Rising Nepal talked to felt that Thakur was in a weaker position now than he was the last time he won from the constituency in 2017 due to his split with Upendra Yadav and the influence wielded by his opponents UML-Janata Samajwadi candidate Hari Narayan Yadav and independent Ramadhar Kapar.

Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP-N) commands a stronger presence in Mahottari 3, which includes Madhes Province’s oldest municipality Jaleshwar along with Matihani Municipality, Ekdara Rural Municipality, Pipra Rural Municipality and some wards of Manara Shishwa Municipality than Loktantrik Samajwadi.

In the local election of May, JSP’s candidates had won the mayorship and deputy mayorship of Jaleshwar, Ekdara and Pipra while LSP-backed candidates only managed to win in Matihani.

“Caste, candidate, party and Madhesi sentiment guided people’s vote in the local election,” political analyst Krishna Chandra Jha said. “While the situation has certainly changed since May, we cannot write off any candidate as weak or strong.”

Kapar, in particular, was once a member of the UML but he rebelled and declared an independent candidacy after the party refused to give him a ticket to stand. He obtained the third highest number of votes when he stood for the position of the mayor of Jaleshwar Municipality six months ago. So, he holds strength despite not being backed by any political party, a few commentators shared with this daily.

Jha also noted that no candidate has ever won twice in a row from Constituency 3 since the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the republic. “People’s mood changes on a dime here so it’s hard to predict which way the vote will swing. So, no one should be over or underestimated.”

Last time, Thakur stood from his Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and at the last minute, achieved the backing of the Nepali Congress. This time, he is standing as the joint candidate of the five ruling parties Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Rastriya Janamorcha and LSP-N.

According to the District Election Office of Mahottari, there are 53,999 voters in Constituency 3.