Congress, UML, and LOSPA have filed candidacies for 9 seats from the alliance, with Congress' Sunil Bahadur Thapa unopposed. The NCP, which broke away from the alliance at the last moment, has filed candidacies for 17 seats.
What you should know
Forty-four candidates filed their candidacies on Wednesday for the 18 vacant seats of the National Assembly. Out of them, Sunil Bahadur Thapa of the Nepali Congress is the only candidate from the 'Other' cluster in Koshi Province, and he is unopposed.
The Election Commission is yet to make a formal announcement. The Commission will make a formal announcement only after the program including the protest against the candidates is over. 43 people are in the fray for the remaining 17 members.
An alliance has been formed between the Congress, UML and LOSPA for these 18 seats. The NCP, which was in continuous discussions in this alliance, has withdrawn at the last minute, citing disagreements over seat sharing. The Congress has fielded candidates for 9 seats, UML for 8 and LOSPA for 1 seat from the alliance. The NCP alone has fielded candidates for 17 seats.
To elect members of the National Assembly, members of the Provincial Assembly, the chairperson and vice-chairperson of rural municipalities, and the mayor and deputy mayor of municipalities are voters. One vote of a member of the Provincial Assembly carries 53 votes. The office bearers of rural municipalities and municipalities carry 19 votes.
The National Assembly members will be elected for the next 6-year term from 550 members in 7 Provincial Assemblies and 753 local level chiefs and deputy chiefs, as well as the chairperson and vice-chairperson. The number of voters has decreased slightly due to suspensions, resignations, deaths and cancellation of positions by court orders.
Out of a total of 2,056 voters, 14 seats are vacant due to various reasons. The electoral roll of 545 provincial assembly members and 1,497 municipal chairmen, vice-chairmen and mayors has been published by the commission.
Elections are being held in the National Assembly for 1/1 from women, Dalits and other groups from Koshi province. There, Roshni Meche of UML and Namita Neupane of NCP are competing for the women's seat. UML's Somnath Portel and NCP's Khemraj Nepali have filed their candidacies for the Dalit seat.
Sunil Bahadur Thapa of Nepali Congress is the only candidate for one seat from other groups, so he will be unopposed. The alliance between Nepali Congress and UML has been formed in Koshi. The total vote share of all voters in Koshi, including the provincial assembly and local levels, is 10,135. Out of that, the majority of voters and vote share are with two parties. The vote share of the two parties is 7,932. The vote share of the NCP is 1,613.
Voting is underway in Madhesh Province for 4 seats, including 1 each for women, Dalits, people with disabilities or minority communities and other groups. Rekha Kumari Jha from UML, Shami Kumari Agrawal from NCP and Chandra Kala Devi Sah from JSP Nepal have filed their candidacies for the women's seat.
Dharmendra Paswan from NC, Shambhu Paswan Hazari from NCP and Chameli Devi Das from JSP Nepal have filed their candidacies for the Dalit seat. Ranjit Karna from NC, Ram Nandan Prasad from NCP and Shailesh Kumar Chaudhary from JSP Nepal are the candidates for the disabled or minority communities.
Mahantha Thakur, Chairman of the Democratic Socialist Party Nepal, has filed his candidacy from other groups. He is supported by the Congress, UML and JSP Nepal. NCP has nominated Laxman Poudel as its candidate. Although the Congress-UML coordinated and gave one seat to the LOSPA in Madhesh Province, the JSP did not give it to Nepal. The JSP, which did not get a seat from the alliance, has also given its candidacy in the seat where the Congress and UML have given its candidacy in Madhesh.
Out of 107 provincial assembly members in Madhesh, 3 of them are suspended, so 104 names are in the voter list. Provincial assembly members Saroj Singh Kushwaha (Mahottari) of the JSP, Dipendra Kumar Thakur (Dhanusha) of the UML and Abhiram Sharma (Mahottari) are suspended.
Similarly, out of 272 local level office bearers, the names of 6 people who are suspended and have resigned are not in the voter list. There are 266 voters from the local level in Madhesh. The total vote share there is 10,566. The vote share of the Congress, UML and LOSPA alliance is about two-thirds.
The vote share they have is 6,444. Of the remaining 4,000 votes, the NCP has only 1,366. JSP Nepal has 1,923. Janmat has 746. The vote share of NUPA, RPP, Federal Socialist Party and Independents is small.
Elections are being held in Bagmati Province for a total of two seats, one for women and one from other groups. The Congress has nominated Geeta Devkota for the women's seat, the NCP has nominated Saroj Kumari Jha, and the NEMKIPA has nominated Kabita Maharjan. For the seats to be elected from other groups, Prem Prasad Dangal from the UML, Prem Prasad Sapkota from the NCP, and Bikram Dhukuchhu from the NEMKIPA have filed their candidacies.
There are 110 provincial assembly members in Bagmati Province. Similarly, 237 out of 238 local level members are in the voter list. The vote share of this province is 10,333. The candidate who gets 5,269 votes will win. The Congress and the UML have 6,584 votes. The NCP has 2,713 votes, and the NEP has 197 votes. The remaining voters and votes are divided between the RPP, Hamro Nepali Party, and Swatantra.
Elections for National Assembly members are being held in Gandaki for 2 seats, one for women and one for other groups. Samjhana Devkota from UML, Goma Luitel Ghimire from NCP, and Laxmi Baskota from Rastriya Janamorcha are in the fray for the women's seat. Jagat Timilsina from Congress, Kapil Lama from NCP, and Shankar Prasad Baral from Rastriya Janamorcha are candidates for the other group's seats.
In Gandaki, 59 out of 60 names of the provincial assembly and 170 names of all local level members are included in the voter list. The voter list of this province is 6,357. Rajiv Gurung (Deepak Manange), who was elected as a provincial assembly member from Manang, has been relieved of his post by the Supreme Court order. The voter list of the Congress and UML here is 5,109. There is no challenge to the coalition candidates. The vote share of the NCP is 941 and the vote share of the Janamorcha is 57.
Elections will be held in Lumbini for 3 seats, 1 for women, 1 for people with disabilities or minority communities, and 1 for other groups. UML leader Ram Kumari Jhankri has become a candidate from the Congress-UML alliance. Durga Kumari Bhandari from the NCP and Padma Pandit from the Rastriya Janamorcha have filed their candidacies.
Vasudev Ghimire of the Congress and Sarjan BK of the NCP are candidates from the people with disabilities or minority communities. Chandra Bahadur KC of the Congress, Brihaspati Adhikari of the NCP, and Bom Bahadur Khatri of the Rastriya Janamorcha have filed their candidacies from other groups. In Lumbini, all 87 names of the provincial assembly members are in the voter list.
Similarly, out of 218 office bearers of the municipality, 217 names are in the voter list. The post of mayor elected by the Congress has fallen vacant in Lumbini Cultural Municipality of Rupandehi due to the death of the mayor. The total vote share of Lumbini is 8,734. The vote weight of Congress, UML and LSP is 6,205. The vote weight of CPN is only 1,396. Janamorcha has 129 votes.
Elections will be held for 2 seats of the National Assembly in Karnali, including 1 for women and 1 from other groups. Minasingh Rakhal from UML and Anju Mahatara from CPN have filed their candidacies for the women's seat. Lalit Jung Shahi from Congress and Buddhi Prasad Sharma from CPN have filed their candidacies for the other seats. All 40 names of the provincial assembly and 158 names of the municipalities are on the voter list. The vote weight is 5,122. The combined vote weight of Congress and UML is 3,003. CPN has 1,863 votes.
Elections are being held for 1 seat for women and 1 seat from other groups in Sudurpaschim. The women's seat is contested by Leela Kumari Bhandari from UML and Rozi Basnet from CPN. For the other group seats, Khamma Bahadur Khati from Congress and Tikaram Jaisi from CPN have filed their candidacies. In the Far West, 52 out of 53 provincial assembly members and 176 out of 176 voters in the municipality are on the voter list.
Former Chief Minister Dirgha Bahadur Sodari, who was elected from the then Unified Socialist Party, is suspended. The total vote share of this province is 6,081. Congress-UML has 4,174 votes. CPN has 1,312 votes. The remaining vote share of NUPA, RPP and Swatantra is 667.
Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Election Commission, said that the National Assembly elections will be held at polling stations designated in the provincial capitals on 11 Magh. The deadline for filing complaints against the candidacies of 44 people is 24 Pus. After investigating the complaints, the list of candidates will be published on 26 Pus. On 27 Pus, candidates will be able to withdraw their names if they wish. On 28 Pus, candidates will be given election symbols.
The term of office of 19 members of the National Assembly, including one nominated by the President, is set to end on 20 Falgun. Article 86(3) of the Constitution states that elections for the seats that fall vacant after the expiration of the term of a member of the National Assembly must be held 35 days before the vacancy occurs. Accordingly, as per the constitutional provisions, elections are being held for the seats that fall vacant on 20 Falgun.
