Three aspirants from Nepali Congress for mayor of Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan

Dhangadhi: With the government announcing the date for local elections on April 12, the election atmosphere in Kailali, the capital of the far-west, has warmed up. Political parties have started internal preparations for the competition after the Election Commission launched election-focused programs at 13 local levels of the district.

The election atmosphere is also heated in Dhangadhi, the only sub-metropolitan city in the far-western region. As the date of the election draws near, the names of three candidates from the Nepali Congress for the leadership of the Sub-metropolitan are being discussed. The current mayor of Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan Nrip Bahadur Odd deputy mayor Sushila Mishra Bhatt, and leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara are seen aspiring.

All three are from the establishment. Although some other leaders seem to have shown aspirations, they do not want to open up. Odd had defeated independent candidate Gopal Hamal by 2,700 votes in the 2014 election. He has started lobbying in public saying that his term should be repeated. However, a leader of Dhangadhi said that the district working committee of the Nepali Congress did not like Oddd as the mayor. "The newly elected district leadership is trying to promote Krishna Bahadur Mahara as the mayor," the leader said. Narayan Dutta Bhatt, nominated by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, has won the district chairmanship.

"The mayor of Dhangadhi, Odd, was seen with Bhatt even though he did not want to because of the directives of the central president," said a Kailali Congress official. After the party's internal election, the chances of Odd getting the ticket for mayor again have decreased a bit. ' But since Odd played a key role in helping Bhatt win the presidency in the second round of elections, the other side understands that Odd will get the mayor's ticket again.

Meanwhile, businessman and Nepali Congress leader Mahara has also expressed his desire for the post of mayor. There were a lot of talks that he would get a ticket in the 074 elections as well. The then Congress leader Pushkar Nath Ojha and others had lobbied at the Center to fight Mahara for the post of mayor. But after Ojha agreed on Odd's name at the last moment, there was talk that Mahara did not get a ticket in the 074 elections.

There is a discussion within the NC Kailali that the possibility of Mahara getting this time is strong as he did not get the mayor's ticket even though he had hoped for it earlier. Bhatta, the deputy mayor of Dhangadhi, has clearly stated that she will not run for deputy mayor.

She has started lobbying for mayor or state assembly tickets. Congress has given the responsibility of deciding the candidates in the municipality and sub-metropolitan to the Far Western Provincial Committee. However, the NC leaders and cadres are clear that the provincial committee will decide the candidates as per the instructions of the center.