Twelve former ministers contest house of representatives elections in Sudurpaschim
Mahendranagar: A total of 12 former ministers are contesting the upcoming House of Representatives elections in Sudurpaschim Province, scheduled to be held on March 21.
Major political parties in the province, which has 16 constituencies, have fielded several former ministers as candidates. Among nominees from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and the Nepali Communist Party, 12 candidates who have previously served in federal or provincial governments are in the election race.
The Nepali Congress has nominated Narayan Prakash Saud as its candidate from Kanchanpur Constituency No. 2. Saud has served multiple times as a minister in the federal government. Nepali Congress Provincial Joint General Secretary Chintamani Bhatta said that except for Saud, all other candidates fielded by the party in Sudurpaschim are new faces.
Similarly, Nepali Communist Party leader Bhim Bahadur Rawal, a former Deputy Prime Minister, is contesting from Achham Constituency No. 1. From the same party, former federal ministers Prem Ale and Bina Magar are in the race from Kailali Constituency No. 5 and Kanchanpur Constituency No. 1, respectively.
The NCP has nominated Trilochan Bhatta, a former Chief Minister of the Sudurpaschim Province Government, as a direct candidate for the House of Representatives from Doti. Former provincial minister Prakash Bahadur Shah has been fielded from Bajura. Man Bahadur Sunar Pravesh, the party’s candidate from Kanchanpur Constituency No. 3, has also previously served as a Minister of State.
Former ministers from the CPN (UML) are also contesting in Sudurpaschim. UML leader Ganesh Singh Thagunna, a candidate from Darchula, and Damodar Bhandari, contesting from Baitadi, are former federal ministers. Former minister and UML Deputy General Secretary Lekhraj Bhatta is contesting from Kailali Constituency No. 4. Gauri Shankar Chaudhary of Kailali-3, another former federal minister, is also a UML candidate, according to UML Sudurpaschim Secretary Ran Bahadur Chand.
Jhapat Bahadur Bohara, the UML candidate from Achham Constituency No. 1, is a former minister of the Sudurpaschim Province Government. Secretary Chand also informed that Deepak Dhami, central president of ANNFSU, has been fielded as a candidate from Doti, representing the Genji generation.
Chand said the UML is preparing to organize election meetings and rallies across the province. It is initially estimated that the main competition in Sudurpaschim will be among candidates from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Nepali Communist Party and the National Independent Party.
According to the Provincial Election Office, Dhangadhi, a total of 206 candidates are contesting from 16 constituencies in Sudurpaschim Province, which has 1.716 million voters.