Election activities sped up in Mugu

Mugu, Feb 16: As the date for voting under the House of Representatives (HoR) election approaches near, election-related activities have gained nationwide momentum, including in Mugu, a mountainous district of Karnali Province.

Seven candidates are contesting the election from Mugu, a single constituency. They are Khadag Bahadur Shahi (Nepali Congress), Purna Bahadur Rokaya (CPN-UML), Chandra Bahadur Shahi (Nepali Communist Party), Bhuwan Tamata (Rastriya Swatantra Party), Rangvir Pariyar (Nepali Communist Party-Maoist), Bala Bahadur Malla (Rastriya Prajatantra Party), and Aitan Malla (Progressive Democratic Party).

NC candidate Shahi had lost the first Province Assembly (PA) election from Mugu. Rokaya is the outgoing District Coordination Committee chief. Meanwhile, NCP’s Shahi had won the parliamentary election in 2056 BS. He also won the first PA election in 2074 BS and was appointed Province Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives.

In the last parliamentary election in Mugu, the UML secured the highest votes under the proportional representation (PR) system, followed by the NC, the then Maoist Centre, and the then CPN (Unified Socialist).

Bhuwan Tamata of RSP is a new face in this election. All parties have claimed their victories.

According to the District Election Office, Mugu has 36,031 voters across four local levels. A total of 67 polling stations and 79 polling centres have been established in the district. In the previous election, voter turnout was 74 percent.

Under the first-past-the-post system in the last election, the then CPN (Maoist Centre), the CPN (Unified Socialist), and the Nepali Congress had formed an electoral alliance, leading to the victory of NC candidate Ain Bahadur Shahi, who secured 14,706 votes. UML candidate Raj Bahadur Karki received 10,710 votes. (RSS)