As the election atmosphere in the country intensifies, the race of leaders to Delhi has intensified. Soon after the return of Progressive Democratic Party patron and former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai from India, NCP coordinator and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal returned on Monday night after completing a two-day visit to Delhi.

When Dahal was arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to return to Kathmandu, Congress leader and former Foreign Minister Arju Rana Deuba had already landed there. Prime Minister Sushila Karki's husband Durga Prasad Subedi reached Delhi on Sunday evening for treatment. Similarly, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Vice President Swarnim Wagle is also leaving for Delhi on Thursday to participate in a public program. 

Although Dahal was said to have gone to Delhi to participate in a program of the party's diaspora organization, he was focused on discussions with the Indian power center. The news that the former Prime Minister was also arriving in Delhi through official 'channels' had not reached the Nepali embassy there.

The 'Ekta Sandesh Sabha' organized in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar on Monday was said to be Dahal's official program, but he had reached there only a few minutes before returning to Kathmandu, from where he went straight to the airport. Dahl, who stayed at the Tajman Singh Hotel near Khan Market during his two-day visit to Delhi, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Dahal and Doval held talks at the hotel on Sunday night. The Indian Prime Minister has been taking necessary decisions on Nepal and other foreign affairs as per Doval's suggestions. 

Dahal had visited India in the last week of Ashar before the 2079 general elections as a former Prime Minister. At that time, he had held talks with Security Advisor Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, then Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, then BJP President JP Nadda, and others. 

Before flying to Delhi, Dahal had met with UML President KP Sharma Oli. They had been holding separate discussions after breaking the two-and-a-half-year-long acrimony. The relationship between the two leaders deteriorated after Oli himself became the prime minister on 17 Ashad 2081 with the support of the Congress after withdrawing his support for the then Prime Minister Dahal.

The talks between Oli and Dahal took place at the house of controversial contractor Sharda Prasad Adhikari in Lalitpur. On 2 Falgun 2074, the government was formed under the leadership of Oli after the two leaders met at this house. 

In recent days, Congress President Deuba and Oli have also been holding repeated talks. Leaders say that discussions have begun at the top level on the issue of forming an electoral alliance between the Congress, UML and NCP in the upcoming House of Representatives elections. 

After Ravi Lamichhane, Balen Shah and Kulman Ghising united under the same umbrella of the National Independent Party, the Congress, UML and NCP have felt a political challenge. Analyzing that they would not be able to achieve the desired results by going to the elections separately, they have started discussions on the possibility of going to the elections by forming an alliance. 

The parties have already submitted their closed lists of candidates for the proportional representation for the House of Representatives elections. The direct nomination of candidates is scheduled for 6th Magh. This is where the Delhi rush of leaders has begun. 

Congress leader Arju left for Delhi on a Nepal Airlines flight at 2:15 pm on Monday. Her visit to Delhi is said to be for routine health treatment. However, some leaders say that she has reached Delhi as a representative of Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

In the past, she has been prioritizing political meetings while going for health treatment. During her every visit to India, she has met with BJP's foreign department chief Vijay Chauthaiwal.

Similarly, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Vice President Wagle is going to Delhi to participate in a seminar jointly organized by two 'think tanks' close to the Indian establishment, Vivekananda International Foundation and NetSTRAT (Center for Research on Strategic and Security Issues).

Along with Wagle, Congress central member Govinda Pokharel is also participating in the seminar on ‘Nepal-India relations after the Gen-G movement’ to be held next Thursday. ‘It is a program of the Vivekananda International Foundation, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Swarnim Wagle and I are going,’ Pokharel told Kantipur. 

India’s Chief Security Advisor Ajit Doval is the founding director of the Vivekananda Foundation, while former Deputy Chief Security Advisor Pankaj Sharan is the head of Netstrat. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Karki’s husband Subedi has reached Delhi on Sunday evening for emergency treatment. He was undergoing treatment in Kathmandu due to health problems. On Sunday evening, the Prime Minister’s personal secretary Adarsh ​​Shrestha also went to Delhi along with Subedi. 

Former Prime Minister Bhattarai also went on a two-day visit to India on 20 Poush. He had given a guest lecture at IIT Bombay's 'Techfest' in Mumbai and participated in a discussion program organized by former Indian ambassadors in Delhi. In that program, which was also attended by professors and leaders of various political parties, he expressed his views on the latest political developments in Nepal.

He also had informal talks with high-ranking Indian officials in Delhi. During the meeting, Bhattarai told Kantipur that Indian officials wanted elections to be held in Nepal on time. 'Indian officials are of the opinion that elections should be held in Nepal and that we will provide full support,' he said.

Former ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay says that Nepali leaders travel to India on some pretext or the other. 'This is an old tradition, leaders rush to India for their political objectives. However, the objective is not immediately clear. Only the events that develop later will reveal its meaning,' he says, 'Even now, there is a strange situation within the country. Political polarization is taking place. The leaders' visit may have been for the purpose of holding talks with the Indian side in this context.'