Old rivals face off again in Jhapa-4

By Lilaraj Khadka,Birtamod, Feb. 27: As the date for the House of Representatives elections draws nearer, election activities have intensified in Jhapa Constituency-4, where familiar faces are once again locked in a closely watched contest.

The constituency comprises Ward Nos.1 to 7 of Kankai Municipality, all 11 wards of Shivasatakshi Municipality, seven wards of Jhapa Rural Municipality, nine wards of Gauradaha Municipality and Ward Nos. 1 and 2 of Gaurigunj Rural Municipality. The constituency has a total of 28 wards and 130,712 registered voters.

A total of 16 candidates, including one independent, are in the fray.

The main contest is expected to revolve once again around the two long-time rivals, Lal Prasad Sawa Limbu of the CPN-UML and Deu Kumar Thebe of the Nepali Congress (NC)

Sawa defeated Thebe in both the 2017 and 2022 parliamentary elections, and both parties have fielded the same candidates once again, setting the stage for another high-stakes battle.

In the 2022 election, Sawa secured 29,315 votes, while Thebe garnered 22,448 votes.

Shambhu Prasad Dhakal of the Rastriya Swatantra Party  (RSP) had also emerged as a strong contender, obtaining 14,069 votes, the highest for his party in Koshi Province at the time.

Dhakal has once again entered the race, intensifying the competition among established figures.

While Sawa is seeking a third consecutive victory, Thebe, who also serves as the district president of the NC, is determined to halt his rival’s winning streak.

During the 2022 polls, the then CPN (Maoist Centre) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) did not field candidates in the constituency.

However, under the proportional representation system, the CPN (MC) secured 6,465 votes and the RPP, 6,415 votes. At that time, the RPP had supported the UML candidate, while the CPN (MC) backed the NC nominee. This time, the CPN (MC) and CPN (Unified Socialist), among others, have formed an electoral alliance and fielded Purushottam Chudal (Raju) as their common candidate.

Meanwhile, Bhakti Prasad Sitoula, who resigned as a provincial assembly member, is contesting on behalf of the RPP.

All major candidates have pledged to prioritise the distribution of long-pending land ownership certificates, improvements in education, healthcare and employment and measures to control riverbank erosion along the Kankai, Biring and Baniyani rivers, the longstanding issues in the constituency.

The RSP candidate has even vowed to face legal action for deception if he fails to fulfil his electoral commitments.

For the first time since the second Constituent Assembly election in 2013, voters aligned with the RPP and the CPN (MC) have been able to cast their ballots for their own party’s candidate in Jhapa-4.

Other candidates in the race include Amrita Rai of the Shram Sanskriti Party, Dilip Dhimal of the Mongol National Party, and Kiran Limbu of the Sanghiya Loktantrik Party, among others.

With old rivals re-entering the fray and multiple parties mobilising their supporters, Jhapa-4 is shaping up to be one of the most closely contested constituencies in the district.