RSP minnows defeat NC, UML bigwigs

 Kathmandu, Mar. 9: The Rastriya Swatantra Party has emerged as a dominant political force in Nepal by securing victory in 124 constituencies under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, leaving major and established political parties far behind. 

The party has made a clean sweep in majority of the districts, including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Jhapa and Morang, among others. Many of the country’s established parties have now lost their status of national parties. 

To be recognized as a national party, a political party must secure at least 3 per cent of the total valid votes under the PR system nationwide and win at least one seat under the FPTP system.

Even party chiefs of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantara Party (RPP) and Madhes-centric parties have been defeated in this election, except the coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. 

The majority of the prominent leaders from established parties, such as NC, UML, NCP, with a few exceptions, have suffered defeat by huge margins to the candidates of RSP, many of whom were newcomers and young. 

Even leaders who had established themselves in society after serving repeatedly as Prime Ministers, ministers and members of parliament have lost the election. 

Former Prime Ministers who lost elections

Chairman of CPN-UML and former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was defeated in the much talked-about Jhapa-5 by senior leader of RSP Balendra Shah. Shah defeated Oli by a margin of 49,614 votes.

According to the Election Commission, Shah secured 68,348 votes, while Oli received 18,734 votes. Samir Tamang of the Shram Sanskriti Party finished third with 9,233 votes, followed by Mandhara Chimariya of the Nepali Congress (NC) with 1,821 votes. and Laxmi Prasad Sangraula of Rastriya Prajatantra Party with 1,536 votes.

This was Oli’s eighth election from the constituency, except for the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, he had won six past polls. 

Likewise, co-coordinator of the NCP and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was defeated in Rautahat-1 by RSP candidate Rajesh Kumar Chaudhary. 

Chaudhary secured 28,946 votes to win the election, while UML candidate Ajay Kumar Gupta received 10,694 votes to finish second. NC candidate Anil Kumar Jha secured 8,574 votes and came third, while Madhav Kumar Nepal finished fourth with 7,669 votes.

NC's prominent leaders 

Several high-profile leaders of the NC, including party president Gagan Kumar Thapa, who had served repeatedly as ministers and members of parliament were also defeated. 

Party president Thapa lost the election with RSP candidate Amresh Kumar Singh from Sarlahi-4, putting a break to his 18-year parliamentary career. Singh secured 35,688 votes against Thapa’s 22,831, a margin of 12,857 votes. 

Likewise, former home minister Bimalendra Nidhi lost to RSP general secretary Manish Jha from Dhanusa-3. Jha secured 43,988 votes to win the election, while Nidhi received 16,652 votes and finished second. Former minister Julie Kumari Mahato from UML secured 9,786 votes and came third.

Similarly, NC general secretaries Pradeep Paudel and Gururaj Ghimire were defeated by RSP candidates. Paudel lost to Sasmit Pokharel in Kathmandu-5, while Ghimire was defeated by Santosh Rajbanshi in Morang-4. 

Pokharel secured 30,373 votes, whereas Paudel received 9,159. Likewise, Rajbanshi secured 40,833 votes while Ghimire received 12,818.

Senior NC leader Shekhar Koirala was defeated in Morang-6 by RSP candidate Rubina Acharya. Acharya, who is a newcomer, won the election with 55,513 votes, while Koirala secured only 12,850.

Similarly, NC vice-president and former minister Udaya Shumsher Rana lost to RSP candidate Buddharatna Maharjan in Lalitpur-1.

Party co-general secretary Farmullah Mansur was defeated by RSP candidate Arvind Sah in Bara-3, while another co-general secretary Prakash Snehi Rasaili lost to Ain Bahadur Mahar in Bajhang.

UML's losing leaders 

Most office bearers of the CPN-UML, including chairman KP Sharma Oli, have faced defeat in the election.

Ishwar Pokhrel, who contested from Kathmandu-5, was defeated. Party vice-chairman Bishnu Prasad Paudel lost in Rupandehi-2 to RSP candidate Sulabh Kharel, while Prithvi Subba Gurung was defeated in Lamjung by RSP candidate Dharma Raj KC.

Party vice-chairman Gokarna Bista was defeated in Gulmi-2 by RSP candidate Govinda Panthi, while general secretary Shankar Pokhrel lost in Dang-2 to RSP candidate Bipin Acharya. All of them are senior UML leaders who had served repeatedly as ministers and members of parliament.

Likewise, party secretaries Mahesh Basnet and Rajan Bhattarai were also defeated by RSP candidates Rajiv Khatri in Bhaktapur-2 and Pukar Bam in Kathmandu-4 respectively.

In the same manner, Lekhraj Bhatta, deputy general secretary and former minister, has been defeated from Kailali-4. RSP candidate Khem Raj Koirala emerged victorious, while Bhatta finished in third place. 

Top leaders of NCP and other parties 

Many leaders of the NCP have also faced defeat. Former home minister and senior leader of NCP Narayan Kaji Shrestha lost the election with RSP candidate in Sarlahi-3, while former minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet was defeated in Jajarkot by Nepali Congress candidate Khadga Bahadur Budha.

Former minister Bhim Bahadur Rawal was defeated in Achham-1 by NC candidate Bharat Kumar Swar. 

Likewise, Rajendra Prasad Pandey lost the election from Dhading-2, where RSP candidate Ashika Tamang emerged victorious with a huge margin of votes. Pandey, who had been winning elections since the Panchayat era, was pushed down to third place. 

Former ministers Giriraj Mani Pokharel and Prem Bahadur Ale were defeated by RSP candidates Pramod Kumar Mahato in Mahottari-1 and Anand Bahadur Chand in Kailali-5 respectively.

Similarly, NCP leader and former minister Mahendra Rai Yadav and Rastriya Mukti Party leader and former minister Rajendra Mahato were defeated in Sarlahi-2 by RSP candidate Rabin Mahato. Chairman of the Janata Samajbadi Party and former minister Upendra Yadav was defeated from Saptari-3 by RSP candidate Amar Kanta Chaudhary with double margin. 

Likewise, chairman of the Janamat Party CK Raut also faced defeat from Saptari-2. RSP candidate Ramji Yadav secured a decisive victor, while Raut was pushed down to third place.  

Similarly, Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Rajendra Lingden was defeated in Jhapa-5 by RSP candidate Prakash Pathak. 

Senior RPP leader Rabindra Mishra lost in Kathmandu-1 to Ranju Darshana, while Kamal Thapa was defeated in Kathmandu-5 by RSP candidate Sasmit Pokharel.