Roshni Meche is known as a strong face representing the minority Meche community. Som Portel, who has worked at various levels from ward committees to provincial committees, is known as a 'worker-oriented leader' within the UML.
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The CPN (UML) has fielded two inclusive and new faces from Koshi Province in the National Assembly elections. UML has fielded Som Portel from the Dalit community and Roshni Meche from the women and minorities.
Both candidates, who come from different social backgrounds, share a common vision of making the upper house of the state a place for effective policy-making.
Born in 2035 in the eastern hilly Panchthar, Portel's political journey is linked to the practice of people-based struggle and organization-building. Portel, who currently makes Haldibari, Jhapa his permanent home, entered active politics through the student organization ANNFSU in the political environment that opened up after 2047.
Portel, who has worked at various levels from ward committees to provincial committees, is known as a 'worker-oriented leader' within the organization. Active in expanding the political participation of the Dalit community, he is currently the central deputy general secretary of Mukti Samaj Nepal, a sister organization of UML.
Portel's identity is linked to his five-year tenure as the head of the Jhapa District Coordination Committee. He says that from 2074 to 2079, he played a significant role in coordinating local governments, implementing development plans, and strengthening the relationship between the federal, provincial, and local levels.
Earlier, in 2065, he had worked on social justice issues as the vice-chairman of the Dalit Upliftment District Coordination Committee. ‘This is not just a place for ‘retired’ leaders,’ Portel’s view on the National Assembly is clear, ‘Now the National Assembly should be a place for effective policy-making that combines experience and youthful enthusiasm.’
Jhapa’s youth leader Roshni Meche is another important candidate fielded by the UML from the women’s quota. Roshni, born on 8 Bhadra, 2038, is a permanent resident of Mechinagar-12. She is known as a strong face representing the minority Meche community.
Active in the social and political sectors for the past 10-12 years, Meche has gained close experience in party politics as well as policy-implementation. She said that while working in the secretariat of then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, she had the opportunity to understand the decision-making process and administrative mechanism of the federal government closely.
After Oli was removed from office after the Gen-G movement and protests on Bhadra 23 and 24, she seemed to be limited in party activities for some time, but she did not stay away from the political journey. She is currently a central member of the Democratic Indigenous Peoples Federation, a sister organization of UML.
She argues that the National Assembly should be a common platform for all castes and communities. ‘My first priority is to bring the voices of minorities and endangered communities to the upper house of the state,’ says Roshni.
