Ten rivals take on Prachanda in Rukum East

By Jayaman Budhamagar,Rukum East, Jan. 29: Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' who waged the 'People's War' in Nepal for a decade from 1996 to 2006, has been changing his election constituency every election. 

Prachanda, now the Coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party, contested his first election from Rolpa and Kathmandu in 2008, and won from both places.  When the first Constituent Assembly (CA) failed to draft the constitution and the second CA election was held in 2013, Prachanda contested the elections from Siraha and Kathmandu, but won only in Siraha. In 2017 elections to the House of Representatives, he moved to Chitwan and in 2022 to Gorkha, winning from both places. 

This time he has moved to Rukum East to contest the HoR elections.   According to the final list of contenders published by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer on Friday, 11 candidates are in the fray in Rukum East. 

According to Assistant Electoral Officer Ishwori Prasad Subedi, Kusumdevi Thapa Magar of the Nepali Congress, Leelamani Gautam of the CPN-UML and Lakhan Kumar Thapa of Rastriya Swatantra Party are among the rivals of Prachanda in Rukum East. 

Sandeep Pun (Progressive Democratic Party), Chandra Prasad Shahi (National People's Front), Jyoti Roka Magar (Mongol National Organisation), Dharma Kumar Budha (National Republic Nepal), Shir Bahadur Budha (Janata Samajwadi Party), Roshan Shah (RPP), and Juddha Bahadur Budha Magar (CPN-Maoist) are other contenders.

Speaking on his vision for the region, Prachanda stated that the newly formed district of Rukum East would be transformed into a model of socialist development. He remarked that the region, once a heartland for political revolution during the 'People's War', would now be defined as a centre for socialist progress. Addressing criticisms regarding his decision to shift his election constituency, Prachanda maintained that as a national leader, he represents all of Nepal and dismissed allegations that his movements across constituencies were politically opportunistic.

Local sentiment remains divided but hopeful. Durga Budha, a resident of Puthauttaranga Rural Municipality-10, expressed that Prachanda’s candidacy is a point of pride for the district. He noted that having a leader of national stature represent the area is a significant milestone, with many locals anticipating that such high-profile representation will lead to rapid infrastructure and economic development in their area.

Conversely, rival candidates are campaigning on the importance of local representation. RSP candidate Lakhan Thapa argued that it is time for the electorate to vote for a change in leadership. Similarly, Congress candidate Kusumdevi Thapa Magar and UML candidate Leelamani Gautam have both highlighted that genuine district development can only be achieved if voters elect a representative from within the local community.

The political landscape in Rukum East has shifted significantly since the 2022 HoR elections. In that cycle, Purna Bahadur Gharti of the then CPN-Maoist Centre (supported by the Congress alliance) defeated UML’s Kailash Kumar Malla, securing 12,262 votes to Malla’s 5,211. Since then, influential local figures, including former UML district chairman Top Bahadur Oli and provincial members Upendralal Kami and Rabi Budha, have defected to the NCP. Notably, Kami is now a proportional representation candidate for the NCP.

The NCP currently holds a strong administrative grip on the district’s three rural municipalities. While UML’s Gopal Reule holds the vice-chairmanship in Sisne, the NCP controls the chairmanships and vice-chairmanships of Bhume and Puthauttaranga, as well as the chairmanship of Sisne. The voter roll for the district has also seen a modest increase, rising from 34,112 in 2022 to the current total of 34,772 eligible voters.