Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party, who left the armed conflict and entered the peace process in 2063, has been presenting himself as a dynamic leader.

Dahal, who used the parliament in 2048, started an armed war to seize power by force of arms in 2052, and entered the peace process in 2063, seems to be equally dynamic not only in changing political lines and policies, but also in changing constituencies. While his contemporaries, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba Dadeldhura, UML President KP Sharma Oli Jhapa-5, and NCP Co-Coordinator Madhav Kumar Nepal Rautahat-2, have been continuously standing from the constituency.

After entering parliamentary competitive politics, Dahal, who has been winning by changing various districts and constituencies, has chosen Rukum East this time. It is almost certain that he will be a candidate for the parliamentary elections on 21 Falgun in Rukum East, which is relatively safer than other constituencies won by the NCP. Since 2064, the Maoist Center has been winning continuously from Rukum East. 

On Monday, leaders from Rukum East, including Purna Gharti and Tej Bahadur Oli, met Dahal and urged him to run for the seat from Rukum East. The Rukum East District Committee had already recommended Dahal as a candidate and had urged him to run again. At that time, Dahal had said that he was ‘positive’ about running from Rukum East. On Thursday, while leaving the central office in Parisdanda, Dahal said that he would decide on running from Rukum East by Friday. ‘It will be decided by tomorrow (Friday),’ he said.

NCP leader and former Rukum East MP Kamala Roka said that Coordinator Dahal was almost certain to run from the constituency. ‘It is a matter of pride that Coordinator Prachanda is running from Rukum East. He is 99 percent certain to run,’ she said. ‘Since it is a district with a history of people’s war, it will be even more important if Prachanda is the candidate.’

A senior NCP leader close to Dahal said that the main reason Dahal chose Rukum East was that he won the election easily. ‘Rukum is the safest district for former Coordinator Prachanda. That is why we have suggested him to be a candidate there,' he said, 'When Prachanda is a candidate in Rukum East, it will be easier to campaign across the country.'

Dahal, who said that Chitwan-3 will be made a permanent constituency, has already fielded candidates from Siraha in Madhesh, Gorkha in Gandaki, Chitwan in Bagmati, Kathmandu, and Rolpa in Lumbini, looking for a basis to win the election. This time, his choice has been Rukum East. Even until the last day of the registration of nominations for the 2079 House of Representatives elections, the then Maoist chairman Dahal had said that he would contest the elections from Chitwan-3.

To convince them of that, he built a house in Bharatpur Mahanagar-14, Shivnagar. Dahal had said that his connection with Chitwan had become even stronger after moving to the house wearing the Panchebaja Lashkar. But even so, he ultimately did not see Chitwan-3 as safe and reached Gorkha-2. At that time, after moving from Chitwan to Gorkha, he had said that he had created history by changing the district and becoming a candidate. Stating that he had a history of contesting elections from new places, he said, ‘I have previously contested elections from Rolpa, Kathmandu, Siraha in Madhesh and Chitwan. In this way, I feel like I am the first in the history of Nepal to contest elections by traveling from the east to the west, Madhesh to the mountains.’ 

Now, Gorkha-2 is no longer safe for him. Continuing his history of changing constituencies, he has almost reached Rukum East. In Jestha 2082, during the Maoist Mid-Hill Lokmarg Awareness Campaign, he had said that he had political and emotional ties with Rukum. When he was the Prime Minister, he had expressed his commitment to ‘try for the development of Rukum East’ when he reached Maikot in Rukum East in Mangsir 2080. ‘The dream of coming to Maikot has come true,’ he had said when he first reached there. Despite going to Rukum West many times, Dahal Musil has reached Rukum East twice. 

In the 2079 election, Purna Bahadur Gharti Magar of the then Maoist Center won by 12,262 votes. The rival UML candidate Kailash Kumar Malla was defeated by a margin of 7,041 votes. He got only 5,221 votes. Dahal, who was elected from Gorkha-2 in the 2079 election, has chosen Rukum East this time. Former Maoist Vice President and former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had left Gorkha-2, which he had been winning, and nominated Dahal. But after winning the election, the relationship between Dahal and Bhattarai deteriorated. Before the election, Dahal had promised to form a powerful and empowered authority for the overall economic development of the country and place Bhattarai at its head. But after winning the election, Dahal ignored him, and the relationship between the two deteriorated. After the chances of winning from Gorkha-2 in the February 21 election are low, Dahal is preparing to move to Rukum East. 

Rukum East, considered the base area of ​​the Maoist armed war, is a strong area of ​​the then CPN (Maoist). When the constitution was promulgated in 2072, Rukum was divided into East and West. Both Rukums are strong areas of the Maoists. The Maoists have been winning consistently in both Rukums since 2064. After the then Maoist Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma, who had been winning elections consistently from Rukum West, left the party, that district did not become Dahal's choice. 

When Dahal ran for the first Constituent Assembly in 2064 from Kathmandu-10 and Rolpa-2, he said that he had deep historical and political ties. He had said at the time that he had chosen Rolpa out of respect for the base area of ​​the 'People's War'. 'The people of Rolpa are great. I lived safely here for two years during the People's War,' he said. Similarly, in the second Constituent Assembly election of 2070, he had filed his candidacy in Kathmandu-10 and Siraha-5. Although he was defeated in Kathmandu, he was elected from Siraha-5. During the election campaign at that time, he had said, ‘I have fallen in love with Madhesh. That is why I have become a candidate.’ 

Dahal is preparing to make his daughter Renu Dahal, who is also the mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City, resign and field a candidate from his home district Chitwan-3. Renu has been recommended as a single candidate from this constituency. It is believed that daughter Renu has a stronger chance of winning than NCP coordinator Dahal in Chitwan-3. Dahal has tried to promote Renu in his political legacy. 

Earlier, NCP youth leader Lekhnath Neupane has been unanimously recommended as a candidate for the House of Representatives election from Dahal’s constituency Gorkha-2. It is clear that Dahal has left those constituencies as Renu has been unanimously recommended in both of Dahal’s previous constituencies, Chitwan-3 and Lekhnath in Gorkha-2. Neupane, who received unanimous recommendations, has already started his election campaign in Gorkha-2 and Renu in Chitwan-3. Renu has resigned from the post of mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City before filing her candidacy and is preparing to register her candidacy for the House of Representatives election. "After the election is certain, I have resigned from the post of mayor and am preparing to file my candidacy in Chitwan-3," she said.

Recommendation from 9 districts

Coordinator Dahal has been recommended for the House of Representatives election from nine districts so far. Recommendations for the House of Representatives have been received from Gorkha-2 in Gandaki, Kalikot in Karnali, Nuwakot-1 in Bagmati, Sindhuli-2, Ramechhap, Mahottari-4 in Madhesh, Rolpa in Lumbini, Rukum East and Kailali-3 in Sudurpaschim. Since Dahal was also recommended from Kalikot, there was a discussion about the possibility of winning there. Dahal's secretariat has concluded that Rukum East is safer than Kalikot.

Dahal won from Chitwan-3 in the 2074 elections after the alliance between UML and Maoist Center. He was elected from Kathmandu-10 and Rolpa-2 in the Constituent Assembly elections held in 2064 BS. He was elected from Siraha-5 in the second Constituent Assembly elections held in Mangsir 2070 BS and was defeated in Kathmandu-10.