Three types of psychology are currently seen among the voters of Jhapa-3. On one hand, there are voters who want development and continuity, who are trying to give the old faces another chance. On the other hand, voters who want political change, who are looking for a new face.
The current political situation in Jhapa-3 is not like the past. There was an electoral alliance between UML and RPP in two consecutive elections. This time it has broken down. This time, there is a possibility of a tripartite confrontation in this center of usually a two-party confrontation. All three forces, RPP, UML and Congress, have been centralized here.
UML has fielded former Constituent Assembly member Hari Rajbanshi as its candidate against RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden. Similarly, Nepali Congress has also fielded a new face. The Congress has fielded Rajendra Ghimire as its candidate from Krishna Prasad Sitaula's 'base area'.
Nepali Communist Party has fielded Dilliram Ghimire (Hikmat). The RSP has indicated that it will continue to field district coordinator Prakash Pathak for the second time.
Why was there no coordination this time?
UML supporters in Jhapa-3 had been complaining for a long time that the party leadership had neglected them. They were dissatisfied since the candidate recommendation process. UML voters had openly expressed their pain of not being able to vote for the 'sun' symbol in this area for 10 consecutive years.
After the delay in the selection of candidates, Chairman KP Sharma Oli had put Jhapa-3 on hold for some time. However, as the voice of opposition grew louder, he finally decided to give a ticket to Hari Rajbanshi, a member of the indigenous community, from among the recommended candidates. ‘This time, UML is in the fray with its own candidate, which has made the voters very happy,’ said Madhav Bidhoori, a local and a provincial member of UML, ‘That is why the enthusiasm of UML voters seems different.’
In the previous election, Lingden of the RPP had won in this same constituency due to the coordination between UML and RPP. He defeated Nepali Congress leader Krishna Sitaula by 3,276 votes. Lingden got 37,362 votes. Sitaula got 31,171 votes.
In the previous election, UML's proportional votes were 19,460, Congress's 25,535, RPP's 19,743, RSP's 7,812, Maoist's 7,559 and CPN-S's 345.
RSP candidate Prakash Pathak had received 3,461 votes last time. Most of those votes were from UML voters. Locals say that most UML voters voted for Pathak saying, 'We would rather give to Ghanti than Halo'. 'This time the votes are sure to be divided,' said Shankar Sapkota, a local voter in this area, 'First the votes were divided among three parties, this time the votes are sure to be divided among four parties.'
Jhapa-3 includes wards 10 of Kachankawal, Haldibari, Bahradashi rural municipalities and Birtamod Municipality and wards 1 to 8 of Bhadrapur Municipality. There are 140,857 voters in Jhapa 3. 9,425 new voters have been added.
RPP's old influence, same claims
The 'oldest face' here is RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden. This is his fifth election journey. He was defeated twice and won twice. This is the fifth time he has become a candidate. After filing his nomination on Tuesday, he said, 'Like always, this time too, voters will trust me and I am confident that I will win with a large number of votes.'
Lingden emerged in national politics by defeating powerful Congress leader Sitaula in the 2074 elections. Since then, he has been strengthening his organizational base by winning from this constituency for two consecutive terms.
However, the situation this time is different. Lingden, who benefited from collaborating with UML in the past two elections, is alone in the election field this time. That is why his victory is considered challenging this time. ‘It is not easy to defeat Lingden now,’ said UML voter Deepak Kafle, ‘We won by voting before, this time it is difficult.’
The Congress has fielded Rajendra Ghimire as its candidate in Jhapa-3. Ghimire, who had previously been a candidate in the National Assembly elections, is a new face in the House of Representatives. Coming from a business background, he is considered a leader with a strong organizational base.
Three types of psychology are currently seen among the voters of Jhapa-3. On the one hand, there are voters who want development and continuity, who are trying to give the old face another chance. On the other hand, voters who want political change, who are looking for a new face.
Independent voters who look at candidates rather than parties have also been seen. Who are determined to elect a ‘better’ candidate than ‘ours’. Rakesh Rajbanshi of Bhadrapur, a first-time voter, says, ‘I plan to vote for a better person than this or that party.’
