The Arghakhanchi Congress, which has recommended the names of eight candidates for the House of Representatives directly, is busy with the homework of restoring the lost legacy of the past, regardless of whom the center nominates as a candidate.
What you should know
After recommending candidates for the House of Representatives elections to be held on February 21, the Arghakhanchi Congress has gathered youth in Sandhikharka on Saturday in preparation for the elections.
The recommendation is that whoever the center nominates as a candidate out of the eight candidates, it is in the homework of restoring the legacy of the past in this election. Communist Party leaders have been winning the last five consecutive elections in Arghakhanchi, which was once considered a strong base for the Congress.
Congress won both the elections in 048 and 051. From 056 to 079, leaders of the Congress, UML, Maoists, and Rastriya Janamorcha have become MPs in turn after contesting the elections in party alliances and alone.
Congress is preparing to restore its legacy in the elections to be held on Falgun 21. For that, the Congress has recommended the names of eight direct candidates on Poush 4 itself.
Including former Minister of State Revati Prasad Bhusal, Lumbini Province Joint General Secretary Bishnu Prasad Khanal, former District President Kamal Prasad Bhusal, General Convention representatives Dr. Mukti Ram Shrestha, Dr. Jaya Bahadur Tandon, Lekhnath Pokharel, Tara Prasad Shrestha and District Vice President Baburam Poudel have been recommended for direct candidacy.
Central member duo Pushpa Bhusal Gautam and Man Bahadur Bishwakarma have withdrawn from the election. Former Minister Bishwakarma announced that he would not contest direct, proportional and National Assembly candidacies. Stating that the new generation should be given an opportunity, he called District President Keshav Shrestha from Kathmandu and asked him not to recommend him anywhere.
He became the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology in 2063 and was defeated by Maoist Top Bahadur Rayamajhi as a member of the Constituent Assembly from the then Constituency 1 of Arghakhanchi in 2064. He then became a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2070 and a member of the proportional representation House of Representatives in 2074. Bhusal was defeated by UML's Dr. Dilliraj Khanal from Constituency 2 in 2056. She was elected from the same constituency in 2064. After becoming a proportional MP in 2074, she became the Deputy Speaker. She was defeated in the 2070 and 2079 elections.
She has chosen proportional representation in the House of Representatives elections to be held on Falgun 21. ‘I have taken a break for the upcoming elections,’ she said, ‘I don’t always have to contest elections alone. I have left so that it would be easier to go out and seek votes with a new face.’ Former Deputy Speaker Bhusal, who works in the field to ensure that the party gives tickets to the eight candidates, said.
In the 2015 general election, Congress’s Suvarna Shumsher Rana and Kashinath Gautam were elected from the Arghakhanchi constituency. Later, Rana became the Prime Minister and Gautam also became the Health Minister. In the 2048 and 2051 elections, after the multi-party system, Revati Prasad Bhusal won from Constituency 1 and Dhundiraj Shastri from Constituency 2. Bhusal became the Minister of State for Tourism and Shastri became the Minister of Industry. In 2064, Pushpa Bhusal won from Constituency 2.
Apart from that, communist candidates have won in all other elections. In 2056, in the UML-Rajmo alliance, Dilaram Acharya of Rajmo from Constituency 1 and Dr. Dilliraj Khanal of UML from Constituency 2 won the election. Acharya left Rajmo and joined the Maoists. Khanal left the political field.
Top Bahadur Rayamajhi won four consecutive elections from 2064 to 2079. He won three elections when he was a Maoist and the 2079 election when he was a UML. Rayamajhi, who was the Deputy Prime Minister, is currently in detention for investigation in the fake Bhutanese refugee case.
In the 2074 election, one constituency was established in Arghakhanchi for the House of Representatives and two for the Provincial Assembly. In both the 2074 and 2079 elections, the Congress candidate was defeated. In both the elections, UML's Chetnarayan Acharya is the Chief Minister of the Lumbini Provincial Government and Ramji Prasad Ghimire is the Chairman of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly Physical Infrastructure Development Committee.
The Congress has won only two municipalities out of the five local levels in 2079. 'If everyone works together, the Congress will win the election,' said Revati Prasad Bhusal, a former central member of the Congress, who was recommended for the House of Representatives. 'If the party gives me a ticket, I will win the election like in 2048 and 2051. The work I have done in the past and my development plan to change Arghakhanchi are enough.' He also said that even though he is not a candidate, he will try to make whoever gets the ticket win.
After the Congress is defeated in every election, there is infighting within the party and lack of unity, and accusations are made between the leaders. ‘We are trying to win this time by learning the lessons of our defeat in the past,’ said Congress District President Keshav Shrestha, ‘I have recommended eight people. The person whom the center selects as a candidate is the common candidate.’
There is a discussion in Congress circles that this year’s election is likely to be in Congress’s favor even with Top Bahadur in prison. Although Congress’s old rival is UML, leaders and activists are skeptical due to the recent attraction towards the National Independent Party.
