Lower House sans Madhes-based parties

By Dhirendra Prasad Sah,Rajbiraj, Mar. 14: The final results of the House of Representatives (HoR) elections have already been made public.

However, the Madhes-based parties, which were making meaningful presence in the HoR from the first Constituent Assembly elections held in 2008, failed to win a single seat under both the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system in the election held on March 5.  

The Madhes-centric political parties will have zero representation in the new House of Representatives because they failed to become a national party by crossing the specified threshold under PR and winning any seat under FPTP system. The Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, which had become a national party in the 2022 House of Representatives elections, could not cross the threshold this time.

The Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, who is considered influential leader in Madhes politics, has not won a single constituency. Yadav himself lost the election in Saptari-3. His party has failed to secure three per cent of the votes under PR system. 

Similarly, the Janmat Party, which became a national party by participating in the 2022 elections, has also failed to win a single constituency. Dr. Chandrakant Raut (CK)-led Janamat Party has also failed to cross the three per cent mark in the PR vote to become a national party.

According to the Election Commission, Janata Samajwadi Party has secured 182,285 votes, and the Janamat Party has secured 79,435 votes. Dr. Raut lost election in Saptari-2.

Similarly, the Janadhikar Party led by Dr. Sharad Singh Yadav, a resident of Saptari, and former spokesperson of the Janamat Party, has also not been able to secure a respectable number of votes. The EC informed that the Janadhikar Party has been limited to 2,117 votes in the PR votes.

Janata Samajwadi Party’s Chairman Upendra Yadav has accepted the mandate received from the people through his official social media page and stated that the party will remain steadfast towards the goal of achieving equality, freedom, social justice, prosperity and socialism in the future.

ChairmanYadav also said that the party will continue its struggle for the identity, self-respect, rights, justice, and liberation of the excluded and marginalised classes and communities of society.

Janamat Party Chairman Dr. Raut has said that the struggle for principles, beliefs, and agenda is more important than victory or defeat in the election.

Shailendra Prasad Sah, central secretary of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, said that there is a growing need for leadership to effectively raise the issues of rights, identity, and respect of Madhesh in parliament and that a serious debate on this issue is necessary.