Nominations conclude peacefully

Kathmandu, Jan. 21: The nomination registration process of candidates contesting the House of Representatives elections under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system concluded peacefully across the country on Tuesday. 

Nominations were filed at the respective offices of Chief Returning Election Officers and Returning Officers nationwide. 

According to details received by the Election Commission (EC), 3,484 candidates registered their nominations for 165 seats. Of them, 395 are women, 3,088 men, and one from the other category. 

Of the total candidates, 2,397 are fielded by political parties, including 2,064 men, 335 women, and one other.

The remaining 1,087 candidates are independents, comprising 1,024 men and 60 women.

Altogether, 65 political parties have fielded candidates under the FPTP electoral system, informed the EC.

The CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have filed nominations in all constituencies, while the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) filed nominations in 164 constituencies. It has supported a Janamorcha candidate in Baglung-1. 

Complaints against candidates may be filed from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on Wednesday. From 3:00 pm on Wednesday until Thursday evening, nomination papers and complaints will be scrutinised, and decisions will be taken accordingly. The revised list of candidates will be published between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm on Wednesday.

On Friday, candidates may withdraw their nominations between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. The final list of candidates will be published from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, followed by the allocation of election symbols to candidates between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Party chiefs, four former PMs in the fray 

Chief of the political parties have filed their nominations from key constituencies across the country, drawing national attention. CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has filed his nomination from Jhapa–5. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader and former Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Balendra Shah, has also registered his candidacy from the same constituency. With two prominent figures entering the race, Jhapa–5 has emerged as one of the most closely watched electoral constituencies.

Likewise, Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has filed his nomination from Sarlahi–4. Earlier, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 2013, and in the 2027 and 2022 general elections from Kathmandu–4.  But this time, he is contesting the poll from Sarlahi constituency, widely regarded as a stronghold of the Nepali Congress (NC). In the last election, Amaresh Kumar Singh, who fielded as a rebel candidate of the NC, won the election with a huge margin from the same constituency.  He is now contesting the elections from the same constituency as an RSP candidate. 

Similarly, the coordinator of the Nepal Communist Party and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has filed his nomination from Rukum East. In 2022, he was elected from Gorkha. Likewise, RSP president Rabi Lamichhane has registered his nomination from Chitwan–2, from where he was elected in the 2022 polls.

Similarly, chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Rajendra Lingden has filed his nomination from Jhapa–3, while Janata Samajwadi Party–Nepal chair Upendra Yadav has filed his nomination from Saptari.

Meanwhile, joint coordinator of the Nepal Communist Party and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has registered his candidacy from Rautahat–1, the same constituency from which he was elected in the previous election.

Pragatisheel loktantrik party leader and former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has filed his nomination from Gorkha-2 

Former PMs Deuba and Khanal out of race

Two former prime ministers, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Jhalanath Khanal, are not contesting in the elections. While Deuba was denied an election ticket, Khanal, a senior leader of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), has shown no interest in standing in the election.

Deuba holds a unique electoral record in Nepali politics. He is the only leader to have been elected in all seven general elections held after the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990. Since 1991, Deuba has contested every general election from Dadeldhura and won each time.

Four ministers resign to contest elections

Four ministers from the interim government, which was mandated to conduct the mid-term election following the September 8–9 Gen-Z movement, resigned from their posts and joined the election fray.

Those who stepped down to contest the election are Energy Minister Kul Man Ghising, Education Minister Mahabir Pun, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel, and Youth and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta. Among them, Energy Minister Ghising resigned from the Cabinet on January 7, after serving for 115 days, and filed his nomination from Kathmandu–3. 

Ghising, who is also the chairperson of the Ujyalo Nepal Party, stepped down amid questions regarding his political party affiliation while serving in what was intended to be a non-partisan interim government.

Similarly, Kharel has filed his nomination from Lalitpur–2, and  Gupta from Siraha–1 as RSP candidates. Pun has entered the race from Myagdi. 

Kharel and Gupta resigned from their ministerial posts on Monday, while Mahabir Pun stepped down on Tuesday.

Several former ministers and prominent party leaders have entered the election fray. Former deputy prime minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha is contesting from Sarlahi–3 as a candidate of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).

Likewise, former deputy prime minister and senior CPN-UML leader Ishwar Pokharel, along with Nepali Congress General Secretary Pradeep Paudel, have filed their nominations from Kathmandu–5.

Pokharel had won the parliamentary seat from the same constituency in the 2017 general election, but lost to Paudel in the 2022.

Similarly, former finance minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, a close ally of former NC president Deuba, has filed his nomination from Nuwakot–1.

Former deputy prime minister and NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi of NC has filed his nomination from Dhanusha-3, former minister Dr. Minendra Prasad Rijal from Morang-2 and Dr. Shekhar Koirala from Morang-2. NC has fielded mostly new faces in HoR poll. Former deputy prime minister and NC leader Purna Bahadur Khadka is not contesting the poll this time. 

Similarly, the UML has denied tickets for the prominent leaders of the party including deputy-general secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, former minister Gokul Baskota, Bishnu Rijal and Surendra Pandey, among others. 

Likewise, six prominent leaders of RPP, including former chairs Pashupati Sumsher Rana and Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, vice-chairs Bikram Pandey and  Buddhiman Tamang and general secretaries Dr. Dhawal Shumsher Rana, Bikram Pandey and Kunti Shahi are out of electoral race.