Dissatisfaction has flared within the Congress, UML, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and RPP over the closed list of proportional representation candidates submitted to the Election Commission for the House of Representatives elections. There has been a dispute within the parties over the names and serial numbers of the candidates.

The disgruntled party says that the relatives and associates of the leader, those with access, those who have repeatedly benefited from the party, and the 'Tarmara' class have been given priority in the closed list, contrary to the spirit of the proportional electoral system that ensures representation of neglected, oppressed classes, communities, and marginalized groups in parliament. Following the criticism, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has pledged to correct the list.  

Top leaders of the old parties, however, have become defensive, saying that they will make changes within the time given by the Election Commission for improving the list. However, Election Commission officials have said that extensive changes cannot be made to the registered proportional closed list and that a few days have been provided to the parties only to ensure inclusiveness.

Those who have repeatedly got opportunities in the Congress and the leader's relatives are in the forefront

In the procedure for selecting proportional candidates, the Congress had said that no one who was a proportional MP from the 2064, 2070, 2074 and 2079 elections will be repeated this time. That is why, although there is a majority of new faces in the closed list, there are those who have repeatedly got opportunities, have access and are relatives of leaders in the front row.

The Congress has placed 78-year-old Arjun Narsingh KC, who has been contesting elections and becoming a minister since the Panchayat period, at the first number of the Khasa Arya 'cluster'. Former ministers Bhimsen Das Pradhan and Romi Gauchan Thakali have also been in the proportional system. Central member Bal Bahadur KC's wife Rina Upreti KC and sister Goma KC are also in the closed list. Leader Bimalendra Nidhi has made his niece Ninu Karna a proportional system candidate.

The Congress has fielded Sanjaya Pokharel Paudel, daughter of President Ram Chandra Paudel, and Dr. Chandra Mohan Yadav, son of former President Ram Baran Yadav, as proportional candidates. Sanjaya is a new face, while Chandra Mohan became a member of the Constituent Assembly in the 2070 elections.

The Congress had said in the criteria for selecting candidates that there should be proportional candidates from each district. But the number of candidates from some districts is zero, while there are more than 5 candidates from some districts. Not a single person from Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Chitwan, Kavrepalanchok, Lalitpur, Sindhupalchok, Lamjung, Manang, Myagdi, Pyuthan, Rukum East and Jumla is on the proportional list of the Congress. The maximum number of people who have been put on the list is 8/8 from Dhanusha and Sunsari, 6 from Kathmandu and 5 from Jhapa.

Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa said that the proportional list could not be selected as per the provisions of the constitution. He said in a video released on Thursday night that the violation of the proportional representation system is continuing. "Now, powerful leaders have done this to win the election, both new and old. Because the constitution does not specify how to represent geography and population," he said. He proposes that the constitution itself should be amended to stop this situation.

Congress Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel claimed that most of the new candidates have been included. He informed that the Congress has not said anything about correcting the proportional closed list. Regarding the criticism that old leaders and relatives have appeared in the proportional list, Poudel said, "Those are exceptional cases, but new and qualified people have come in accordance with the essence of inclusiveness."

Establishment party dissatisfaction in UML

The other party has expressed dissatisfaction saying that only establishment party leaders have been included in the proportional closed list submitted by the UML. UML Vice President Gokarna Bista and Deputy General Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai had voted to include all the people from the proportional list in the secretariat meeting on Sunday to prepare the proportional list. After that, Chairman KP Sharma Oli himself took the responsibility of making the final decision. Vice President Ram Bahadur Thapa, Secretary Padma Aryal, Shanta Chaudhary, Ushakala Rai, Neeru Pal and Komal Wali, who had repeatedly had opportunities while in the Maoists and UML, have been included in the closed list this time too. Thapa is a powerful minister and MP in the Maoist and UML government. Aryal is also a minister in the Oli government and Chaudhary, Rai, Pal and Wali have also been MPs before.

The closed list of UML's proportional list has the largest number of candidates from Oli's home district, Jhapa. Anita Subba, Bidyananda Rajbanshi, Narmadadevi Siwakoti, Menuka Kafle, Lata Prasai, Neeta Ghatani, Jitu Darji Gautam, Som Portel and Bina Sah Mahato have been included in the proportional list from Jhapa. ‘Why so many candidates from the district of the president? Is Jhapa the one who has contributed the most to UML?’, a UML leader expressed dissatisfaction. 

Similarly, Komal Wali, Shanta Chaudhary and Sajida Siddiqui have been made proportional candidates from Dang, the home district of General Secretary Shankar Pokharel. Leaders from those districts have expressed dissatisfaction after no one was included in the UML proportional list from 17 districts. Not a single person has been included from Taplejung, Tehrathum, Okhaldhunga, Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Makawanpur, Gorkha, Manang, Baglung, Rukum West, Dolpa, Jumla, Dailekh, Dadeldhura, Bajura and Rupandehi.

The highest number of people in the proportional list is 10 from Jhapa, followed by 8 from Dhanusha. Dhanusha is the district of Deputy Secretary General Raghubir Mahaseth. There are 7 from Kathmandu, 5 each from Chitwan and Kailali, 4 each from Palpa, Dang and Dhading. There are 3 each from Kavre, Rautahat, Siraha, Sarlahi and Banke. Two each from 12 districts and 1 each from 30 districts have been included.

Former UML spokesperson Rajendra Gautam expressed dissatisfaction saying that not a single person has been included from some districts. ‘A balanced list does not appear,’ he said. UML central member Rachana Khadka says that people who have not come to the mainstream of politics should be included, but those who have had opportunities have been included. 'The selection of proportional candidates did not send a message of internal unity,' she said.

UML Secretary Rajan Bhattarai, stating that it is natural to be dissatisfied with an important decision, said that people who have contributed to the life of the party and should be included from various communities have been selected in the proportional system. 'People who can work in the proportional list have been selected,' he said. 

RSP to correct the proportional list

President Ravi Lamichhane had expressed in Pokhara on Wednesday that if there is any problem in the proportional list, it will be corrected. 'The RSP will not go beyond the law under any circumstances. The RSP's statute does not allow for nepotism. Even if someone has gone beyond the law, the RSP's statute itself has provided for the right to recall,' he said.

RSP Vice President DP Aryal said that the necessary amendments will be made to the proportional list within the time fixed by the commission. ‘Since it was submitted in a hurry, we will correct it according to the commission’s method,’ Aryal told Kantipur. According to RSP leader Bhupdev Shah, discussions are ongoing within the party to prepare a proportional list that ensures geographical representation and the closed list of proportional candidates will be updated in the commission accordingly.

Demand to correct the list in RPP

There is also a dispute going on in RPP over the proportional closed list. Party spokesperson Gyan Bahadur Shahi has expressed dissatisfaction saying that Chairman Rajendra Lingden and Vice President Buddhiman Tamang have placed their close and family members at the top of the proportional closed list.

‘The family of party Vice President Buddhiman Tamang has directly benefited from proportional representation and alliances from 2064 to 2079 BS. He recommended his wife as the first number in the indigenous peoples ‘cluster’. Khusbu Oli, who became an independent candidate against the party's decision in 2079 BS, has been removed from the party's general membership. She has not given a single vote to the RPP so far. But she was placed at number one in the Khas Arya women's 'cluster,' Shahi wrote. 

A leader close to the RPP chairman said that the party's Central Performance Committee had unanimously finalized the names of the proportional candidate. 'Shahi had not objected to this either. He must have made good use of the fundamental right granted by the constitution now,' he said.