Parties have begun formulating their respective strategies for the House of Representatives elections announced on March 21. The major parties in the dissolved House of Representatives have been busy with public and internal preparations, despite having 'doubts' about the elections being held on time.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the coordinator of the newly formed Nepali Communist Party, urged the general voters to register in the voter list through a video message on Wednesday. Dahal and his party, who were directly involved in the formation of the Sushila Karki government formed after the Gen-G movement, have already given written instructions to lower committees to prepare for the elections.

He said that his party is the most active in creating an environment for the elections on Wednesday at a unity declaration program with former UML chairman Bhim Rawal. ‘The Nepali Communist Party is at the forefront of creating an environment for the elections. The government should take note of this,’ he said, ‘The government should understand this well. The parties and leaders who created a positive environment for your election declaration should not be insulted.’

Although the Congress is positive about going to the elections, it has not made a formal decision. Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba is in talks with UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli in favor of restoring the House of Representatives. However, Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma have said that there is no confusion about going to the elections.

‘A new parliament will come from the elections on Falgun 21. This is the only way to bring the constitution on the right path, there is no confusion in this,' General Secretary Thapa said on social media, 'We have clearly presented this decision of the party in the all-party meeting held in the presence of the Prime Minister on behalf of the Nepali Congress Party. This is also the decision of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee.'

As the meeting of the Congress Central Working Committee is ongoing, no formal decision has been made on going to the election. The decision on going to the election has not been made due to the conflict between the establishment party and the general secretaries Thapa and Sharma. The Dahal-led NCP has stated that it will join the election after integrating the provincial and district committees as soon as the unification process at the center is completed.

The new NCP, which is made up of 11 small and large components, including the Maoists and the Unified Socialists, has supported the government by moving ahead of the Congress and the UML to create an environment for the election. However, Coordinator Dahal and Co-Coordinator Nepal are skeptical, saying that the anti-corruption campaign the government is trying to run may be biased towards them.

Dahal, who was excited after the Gen-G movement displaced the government of UML Chairman KP Oli, has expressed his understanding that the atmosphere should not turn against his party after the unity. He has been expressing his opinion in favor of the election in every speech he has made. 

Secretariat member Pampha Bhusal said that her party has started preparations saying, ‘Elections will take the country in the right direction.’ ‘We are informing and helping the people to register the voter list in every district,’ she said, ‘As soon as the provinces and districts are unified, discussions and selection process for candidates for the House of Representatives will begin.’

UML has put forward the restoration of the House of Representatives as its first issue. Since the Gen-G movement displaced the UML-led government and the Karki government was formed on the strength of that movement, UML is not in a position to easily go to the election. UML is suspicious because the Commission of Inquiry into the Bhadra 23 incident has also ordered an investigation against the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. But Oli himself has already said that ‘UML is not a party that will run away from the elections’.

‘Restoring the House of Representatives in public, preparing for the elections internally’ is the current strategy of UML, a leader said. ‘Easy support for the elections announced by the government formed on the strength of the Gen-G movement means that UML is in a weak position,’ the leader said, ‘Therefore, in order to regain the second power in the House of Representatives, the main emphasis should be on restoring the parliament. This does not mean that UML is not preparing for the elections. The organization is already preparing.’

After the dissolution of the House of Representatives, UML has launched a nationwide ‘public awareness campaign’. On Tuesday, it held awareness meetings in 700 municipalities. The central members deployed in all municipalities had made the restoration of the House of Representatives the main issue. They had instructed the local committee meeting to ‘make preparations because even if the elections are not held on Falgun 21, elections can be held at any time thereafter.’

UML has started election preparations by holding awareness meetings in the municipalities on Tuesday (Kartik 25). Awareness meetings will be held in all districts on Kartik 29 and in Kathmandu on Mangsir 6.

Along with the awareness campaign, it is preparing for party renewal, voter registration and the creation of a 'Mission National Decisive Force' at the Election Commission, saying that elections may be held at any time in the future. The Election Commission has made public the schedule for parties that have already registered to submit applications for election purposes by Mangsir 10. Niraj Acharya, head of the Election Department, said that UML will submit an application within the same schedule.

'Although we prioritize the issue of the restoration of the House of Representatives, we participate in the election-related process,' he said, 'UML is not left out of the commission's election schedule. We will also submit applications for election purposes.'

The UML central office in Chyasal, Lalitpur, which was set on fire on Bhadra 24, is being repaired. General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has started work on the office from the burnt building since Wednesday. Stating that all the party's work will be conducted from the central office, the head of the publicity department, Rajendra Gautam, said that the UML is running a pressure campaign to create an environment for the election and restore the parliament.

'We have asked the government to create an environment for the election. Our party has not said that it will not go to the election. The UML is prepared for any situation,' he said, 'An environment for the election will not be created by taking revenge on political parties and leaders.'

Stating that restoring the parliament is the priority of the UML, he said that the Gen-G issue can be moved forward with constitutional amendments by restoring the House of Representatives. The National Independent Party has decided to start preparing for the election in an extended meeting held in Sauraha on Kartik 23. It had urged the government to be more serious in conducting intensive dialogue with parties and other stakeholders to make the election fair, impartial and fearless, and to prepare for technical arrangements including security.