Elections for the leadership of Nepal Bar Association, the umbrella organization of legal professionals, are being held on Saturday. Five lawyers are competing for the position of President of the Bar.

There are two main panels in the running for President of the Bar. A joint panel of lawyers close to the ruling party UML and Congress and a separate panel of lawyers close to the opposition party have been formed.

The panel of lawyers close to the ruling party is led by senior advocate Vijay Mishra, a professor from the Democratic Lawyers Association close to the Congress. Which is also supported by the Progressive and Professional Legal Practitioners Association (PPLA) and the National Democratic Legal Practitioners Association (NDLA) close to the UML.

There is an alliance between the Republican Lawyers Association (RPPLA), an organization of lawyers close to the main opposition Maoists, and the Independent Lawyers Association supported by the RSVP . Senior advocate Raman Shrestha is leading this group, which has entered the bar elections by forming a 'professional legal practitioner group'. 

Apart from Mishra and Shrestha, Advocate Raju Kaiti, Advocate Ujjwal Ghimire and Ashish Paudel are competing for the post of bar chairman.

The main competition for the president of the bar is going to be between Mishra and Shrestha. 'Presidential Debate' between them  It has also been . Young Lawyers Association held a debate on Chait 17 in Kathmandu between them who went to Daudaha to put their agenda among the voters and lawyers. In the debate  In the presidential debate program organized by Nepal, the main competitors, Mishra and Shrestha, presented their agendas and accused the opposition.

Nepal Law Campus Professor Mishra has been accusing Shrestha of not being qualified to lead legal professionals. Shrestha alleges that it was wrong to go ahead to lead the bar despite being a government employee.  Mishra alleged that it was wrong for Shrestha, who went to the post of Attorney General and became the president of legal professionals close to the party, to become a candidate for the bar president. 

Senior advocate Kedar Prasad Koirala is a candidate for general secretary from Mishra's panel. He is a lawyer candidate close to UML . Advocate Saraswati Shrestha is the candidate of this group for women vice president. Other Vice Presidents include Padam Prasad Limbu (Koshi), Ajay Shankar Jha (Madhesh), Tej Bahadur Rawal (Bagamati),  Bhupendra Khanal (Gandaki), Krishna Prasad Pokharel (Lumbini), Vivash Kumar Basnet (Lumbini) and Siddharaj Ojha (Fur Paschim).

Senior advocate Jagat Bahadur Karki is the treasurer of this panel. Dalit members include Chiranjeevi Tilkyani, Madhesi Muslim (Outside Valley) Member Advocate Suryakumar Yadav, Madhesi Muslim Open Member Rinku Kumari Yadav, Tribal (Outside Valley) Member Senior Advocate Rajkumar Shrestha, Tribal (Open) Member Advocate Mangalsundar Shilpkar, Women (Outside Valley) Member Advocate Indira Archay, Women (Open) Member Ranjita Karki, Open (Outside Valley) Members Kiran Paudel, Kiran Neupane, Sharda Gurung, Daman Bahadur Chand, Baburam Aryal, Mukund Adhikari, Madhav Mainali.

Yagyamani Neupane of Raswapanikat legal professionals organization is candidate for general secretary from Shrestha's panel . Karna Bahadur Rai  (Koshi), Pramod Prasad (Madhesh),  Dekendra Prasad Subedi (Bagamati), Sukdev Gautam (Gandaki),  Tirtharaj Gyawali (Lumbini), Dharmaraj Neupane (Karnali) and Padmaraj Sharma (Furth West). Dina Shrestha is the vice president (female) candidate from this group. Deepak Rai is the candidate for treasurer. The members include Ram Bahadur Mizar (Dalit), Sanju Kumari Shah (Madhesi, Muslim), Devsharan Yadav (Madhesh Open), Nischal Rai (Tribal Tribe), Devkumar Moktan (Open, Tribal), Kala Trital (Women Outside the Valley),  Sulochana Bajracharya is female (open).  The candidates for open membership are Krishna Prasad Acharya, Harichandra Bhattarai, Ramlal Shrestha, Viredra Khadka, Kantiram Dhungana, Jamuna Bhusal Khanal and Sunil Kumar Patel. 

Mishra is contesting elections with the slogan 'clean bar, interest of legal professionals'. There is a slogan to ask for the votes of Mishra who should be elected to improve the institutional, structural and policy of the bar. The purity of the bar, the effective role of the bar in the amendment of the constitution, the establishment of lawyers' academy is also on his agenda. Similarly, Mishra has issued a manifesto which has an agenda including conducting special policies, plans and programs for newcomers, young and women legal professionals, enhancing the capabilities of legal professionals, working on the basis of advice and suggestions.