In the internal competition, Ranju Darshana, who received the most votes for Khas Arya women, was ranked 10th. Uttam Bahadur Gurung, who received the most votes for the tribal community, and Vijay Jairu, who received the most votes for the Dalit community, were not included in the closed list. The ranking also fluctuated a lot.
What you should know
Be it the House of Representatives or local level elections, the top leaders of political parties have been dominating the selection of candidates. In contrast, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) held a 'primary election' within the party to select proportional candidates this time. However, dissatisfaction has increased within the party due to the lack of selection and ranking of candidates according to the results of the internal elections.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had held the primary election for the selection of candidates saying, 'Not the leader's house and palace, but those who live in the hearts of the people and draw the roadmap for the change of the country, society and community will stand in the election and win.' For the 'primary election', the RSS had collected 50 thousand rupees* from those aspiring for proportional representation candidates.
Out of 414 people who filled the form, the list of 387 was made public on 11 Poush. In the meantime, the RSS united with Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah and Ujjal Nepal. Balendra's supporters and Ujjal Nepal's candidates were also included in the proportional representation. However, the original RSS did not implement the results of the internal elections when it recommended a proportional representation candidate from its group.
According to the primary election results of the RSS, co-spokesperson Ramesh Prasai received the most votes in the 'cluster' of Khasa Arya Purush. Prasai, who received 18,223 votes, is at number five in the closed list submitted to the Election Commission. Party Joint General Secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya is at number one in the ‘cluster’. He came third in the primary with 12,245 votes.
Among the Khasa Arya women, Ranju Darshana received the most votes in the primary. She received 13,551 votes and has been moved to number 10 in the closed list. Joint Spokesperson Pratibha Rawal, who was at number six among women with 11,721 votes in the primary, is at number one in the Khasa Arya women ‘cluster’ in the closed list.
In the primary, Uttam Bahadur Gurung came first in the indigenous men’s ‘cluster’ with 16,12 votes. However, his name is not on the proportional closed list. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has selected Dr. Ram Lama as the first in the ‘cluster’. Lama has been included in the closed list from Ujjaya Nepal. Satyakala Rai, who was second in the primary with 14,201 votes, is ranked 16th in the indigenous women's 'cluster' in the closed list. Tasi Lhajom, who was behind Rai in the primary, has been recommended as number one in the same 'cluster'. She received 13,072 votes in the primary.
In the same 'cluster', Nirmala Khimding was fourth in the primary with 11,732 votes. She is ranked 17th in the closed list. Meghna Shrestha, who received 11,235 votes, was sixth in the same 'cluster'. However, her name is not included in the closed list when 17 indigenous women are recommended.
During the primary elections, Punam Kumari Agarwal came first in the Madhesi women's 'cluster' with 15,745 votes. She has been kept at number one in the closed list.
Sonmati Kumari Yadav, who received 11,120 votes, has not been included in the closed list. But Kamini Kumari, who got 11,038 votes in the primary, is at number six on the closed list. Julie Yadav, who got 9,962 votes in the primary, is at number ten on the closed list for Madhesi women. Nisha Mehta, who was at number nine in the primary, is at number four on the closed list.
Dr. Abhijit Gupta, who got the highest number of votes in the Madhesi men's primary with 10,437 votes, is at number eight on the same 'cluster' of the closed list. Vijay Jairu came first in the Dalit men's 'cluster' in the primary with 13,143 votes. But his name is not on the closed list. Rupak Bishwakarma, who was at number two in the primary, is at number one on the closed list, while singer Prakash Saput is at number two.
Chuman Chaudhary, who got the second most votes in the Tharu men's 'cluster' in the primary, is not on the closed list. Pushpa Kumari Chaudhary (13,535) was the highest vote getter for Tharu women in the primary. She too has not been included in the closed list. Karisma Katharia with 10,228 votes and Geeta Chaudhary with 7,154 votes are on the closed list for Tharu women. Geeta is in first place and Karisma is in third place.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has included two Muslim men and three Muslim women in the closed list. Khastar Hussain (15,157) and Mohammad Hasrat Ali (14,463), who got the most votes in the primary, have not been included in the closed list and Mirza Rashid Beg, who got 10,873 votes, has been made a candidate.
Dr. Ramji Ram, who came in fourth place in the Dalit male ‘cluster’, has expressed dissatisfaction that no one’s name is on the closed list among those who were ahead in the primary and that some people have been left behind despite getting more votes. ‘Votes should have meaning in a democracy. It was seen that the RSS has upstaged the people who achieved the top positions by holding primary elections. The name of Vijay Jairu, who got the most votes from Dalits, did not appear in the list,' said Ram, 'We want an answer on whether the primary election is considered the basis of selection. If law and good governance have meaning in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, then let's put Vijay Jairu in a proper place with respect. I felt ashamed that my name was there and his name was not there.'
He has also suggested removing himself from the proportional list and putting Jairu in it. He argues that democratic practices within the party will strengthen the party. Ranju Darshana, who became the first Khas Arya woman in the primary, has also expressed her dissatisfaction through social media. 'Fighting many battles every day - some internal but many external,' she wrote.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had formed a committee with Joint General Secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya as the coordinator to select proportional candidates. However, since he himself was an aspirant, Acharya left the post of coordinator in the middle. But his name was not in the public list at the provincial level. In the closed list, Acharya's name has been submitted to the Election Commission with Khas Arya Purush as the first candidate. 'I resigned from the position of coordinator after becoming a candidate myself,' Acharya said, 'I have now been selected by participating in all the processes including discussions with candidates, door-to-door canvassing, and presentation of the future blueprint.' He said that since the vote share of the election is only 50 percent, getting a lot of votes does not mean that one will be selected.
Prakash Chandra Pariyar, the proportional candidate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said that the intention is not to recommend only those who get more votes in the primary election. He said that the primary election is one of the five criteria for selecting candidates. 'Primary is not the final criterion for selecting candidates. The candidates are selected after reviewing leadership, academia, political proximity, political contribution, experience, and understanding,' he said. Pariyar said that more candidates have been added when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) recently merged with other new forces. "It is a global practice to adhere to certain agreements while cooperating, integrating, and polarizing," he said.
The candidate selection method prepared by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) states that marks will be given based on political awareness/ideas, ethics and morality, education and professional experience, leadership experience, and vision (blueprint of long-term plans) under the 'Leadership Academy'. Under political proximity, marks will be given based on the duration of party affiliation, continuity, contribution and performance in party building, activism and leadership in the constituency, 50 percent, socio-demographic proximity 25 percent, and democratic proximity 25 percent.
‘Even though it is said that candidates will be selected from external and internal elections, there is a manipulation to form a separate committee to give 50 percent marks,’ said a leader who was ahead in the internal elections but fell behind in the closed list. ‘Even though it is said that there will be a factual, evidence-based and measurable evaluation, there are some issues that do not say how to measure them and how many marks to give.’
* In the ‘primary election’, 25,000 rupees has been mentioned instead of 50,000 rupees collected from those aspiring for proportional representation. – Editor
