National Assembly election today

By A Staff Reporter. Kathmandu, Jan. 25: The election for 18 members of the National Assembly will be held on Sunday. According to the Election Commission, 19 National Assembly seats will fall vacant on March 4, 2026. Of them, one member will be nominated by the President on the recommendation of the government, while one seat under the Khas Arya category in Koshi Province has already been filled. Sunil Bahadur Thapa of the Nepali Congress has already been elected unopposed to the seat.

Voting will take place for the remaining 17 seats from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at designated polling centres in all provinces. The Election Commission (EC) has said that all preparations for the National Assembly election have been completed.

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai informed that ballot papers have already been dispatched to the concerned Offices of the Election Officers. The National Assembly has 59 members, with one-third retiring every two years. Each member serves a six-year term. 

According to the Parliament Secretariat, the CPN-UML accounts for the highest number of retiring members, with eight, followed by the Nepali Communist Party, whose eight members are also completing their terms. One member each from the Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal and the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party will also retire. 

The term of Bamdev Gautam, a nominated member, will also end on the same date. 

The Nepali Congress, the second-largest party in the National Assembly, does not have any members retiring at this time.

Eligible voters in the National Assembly election include members of the Provincial Assemblies, mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities, and chairs and vice-chairs of the rural municipalities. 

The Election Commission has excluded the names of local representatives, who resigned from their posts to contest the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, from the voter list. 

Bhattarai also informed that 44 candidates have filed nominations for the 18 available seats. The Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have forged an electoral alliance for the election, while the Nepali Communist Party is contesting independently.

The Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal has fielded candidates for three seats from Madhes Province and has extended support to Mahanta Thakur of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party for one seat.

According to the Election Commission, the Nepali Congress has nominated nine candidates, CPN-UML eight, Nepali Communist Party 17, Rastriya Janamorcha four, JSP-N three, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party two, and the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal one. 

The Election Commission has designated polling centres in all seven provinces. In Koshi Province, voting will be held on the premises of the Provincial Election Office in Biratnagar, Morang.

In Madhes Province, polling will take place at the Mahendra Narayan Nidhi Mithila Culture Centre in Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City–4, Dhanusha.

Similarly, the polling centre in Bagmati Province has been set up at Bhutandevi Secondary School in Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City–4, Makwanpur, while in Gandaki Province, voting will be conducted on the Provincial Election Office premises in Pokhara, Kaski. In Lumbini Province, voters will cast their ballots at the Karmachari Milan Kendra in Ghorahi, Dang.

The polling centre for Karnali Province has been fixed on the Provincial Election Office premises in Birendranagar, Surkhet, and in Sudurpaschim Province, voting will take place on the Provincial Election Office premises in Dhangadhi, Kailali.