NC legacy faces tough test in Surkhet

BY LALIT BASEL,Surkhet, Feb. 3: Political parties in Surkhet, the capital of Karnali, are preparing for the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) elections, aiming to preserve or overturn past legacies.  

As the Nepali Congress won the previous election, it is focused on maintaining its legacy, while the CPN-UML and other parties are determined to break it and secure victory for themselves.

In the 2022 election, the Nepali Congress won both constituencies in Surkhet. In Constituency No. 1, Congress’s former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka won with 42,607 votes, while in Constituency No. 2, former Minister Hridayaram Thani won with 34,625 votes. Their opponents from the CPN-UML were Dhruva Kumar Shahi and Amrit Bahadur Budha Kshetri, respectively. Khadka had been contesting elections since 1991, and Thani since 1994. Khadka was elected in 1991, 1994, 1999, 2013, and 2022, and was elected through the proportional representation system in 2007. He was defeated only once, in 2017.

Similarly, Thani contested six elections in 1994, 1999, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022, winning three times and losing three times. However, this time, neither Khadka nor Thani is contesting. Both leaders were regarded as heavyweight figures in Surkhet, and their absence this time has given other parties confidence that the Congress legacy can be more easily broken. Traditionally, Surkhet has seen power alternate between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, and this time the UML believes it has a strong chance to secure victory.

The CPN-UML has fielded Dhruva Kumar Shahi in Constituency No. 1. He has prior experience contesting against NC strongman Khadka and lost the previous election by 9,619 votes, receiving 30,988 votes. In Constituency No. 2, the UML has nominated Kulmani Devkota. In the previous election, UML candidate Amrit Bahadur Budha Chhetri lost to NC's Thani by 5,067 votes, despite securing 29,558 votes.

This time, however, the UML claims that the Nepali Congress legacy will be broken in both constituencies with relative ease. UML Surkhet publicity department chief Gangaram Timilsina stated that since all parties are contesting the election independently this time, the UML is likely to win. He argued that in the previous election, the Nepali Congress-Maoist alliance caused UML candidates to lose by a narrow margin, but with a stronger organisation this time, the long-standing Congress dominance will be overturned.

On the other hand, the Nepali Congress has asserted that it will retain its legacy in Surkhet. According to NC Surkhet secretary Devkumar Subedi, the party is confident of victory due to its development work and the unity of party cadres. For this election, the Congress has nominated Bishnu Bahadur Khadka in Constituency No. 1 and Narayan Koirala in Constituency No. 2. Bishnu Bahadur Khadka is the younger brother of former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka, while Koirala is close to Congress leader Hridayaram Thani.

Besides the UML, the Nepali Communist Party and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are also actively seeking to break the Nepali Congress stronghold. The Nepali Communist Party has nominated Jeet Bahadur Rana in Constituency No. 1 and Jhak Bahadur Malla in Constituency No. 2. The RSP has fielded Tek Bahadur Singh in Constituency No. 1 and Ramesh Kumar Sapkota in Constituency No. 2. Singh, who previously served as secretary and vice-president of the Congress in Surkhet, joined the RSP just two months ago, while Sapkota, formerly the Congress municipal secretary of Birendranagar, joined the RSP a year ago.