11 new faces out of 12 Congress candidates in Karnali

By Lalit Basel,Surkhet, Feb. 15: Nepali Congress has fielded 11 new faces in 12 constituencies of Karnali Province in the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5.

According to the Provincial Committee of the Nepali Congress, Dikpal Kumar Shahi is running for election again in Constituency No. 2, Dailekh.

Nepali Congress Karnali Province Publicity Committee has informed that the Congress has fielded new faces as candidates in two constituencies of Surkhet, Dailekh-1, Mugu, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot, Salyan, Rukum West, Dolpa and Jajarkot.

Bishnu Bahadur Khadka is the candidate from Surkhet-1, Narayan Koirala from Surkhet-2, Basana Thapa from Dailekh-1, Jayapati Rokaya from Humla, Kesh Bahadur Bista from Salyan, Raju KC from Rukum West, Khadka Bahadur Shahi from Mugu, Karna Bahadur Budha from Dolpa, Deep Bahadur Shahi from Jumla, Harsha Bahadur Bham from Kalikot, and Khadka Bahadur Budha from Jajarkot. Of them, Basana Thapa, from Dailekh-1, is the only female candidate fielded by the Nepali Congress in the Province.

Govinda Koirala, coordinator of the Congress Karnali Province Campaign Committee, claimed that new faces are one of the reasons for the Congress to win, as it has given a chance to 11 new candidates in 12 constituencies of Karnali this election.

He added that this time, after the new leadership of the Nepali Congress came to power, most of the young and new faces in Karnali have entered the elections by fielding candidates.

He also claimed that Congress will further increase its hold this time compared to the previous election by fielding youth having clean image.

In the 2023 elections, due to an alliance between the Nepali Congress and the then CPN (Maoist), the Nepali Congress won four constituencies out of 12, including both constituencies in Surkhet, Dailekh-2, and Mugu districts.

The then Maoists had won four constituencies, the then Unified Socialists had won three, and RPP had won one, leaving the CPN-UML with zero seats.

This time, there are 941 polling stations and 1,437 polling centres in Karnali Province, with 10,37,250 voters. 

Congress party the candidates Bishnu Bahadur Khadka from Surkhet–1 and Narayan Kumar Koirala from Surkhet–2. Basana Thapa From Dailekh–1, and Dikpal Kumar Shahi from Dailekh 2.