He said that he filed his candidacy for three main reasons and later withdrew it on the advice of other parties and well-wishers.
What you should know
Baburam Bhattarai, who withdrew his candidacy from Gorkha-2, has clarified that he has not yet made a commitment to support anyone.
Speaking to Kantipur, he said that he had filed his candidacy for three main reasons and later withdrew it on the advice of well-wishers from other parties. 'I had always wanted to support from outside electoral politics. The political situation in the country has been fluid lately. I felt that the parliament would be the place to make policies and rules, especially regarding national independence and geopolitical balance. Another thing was that after 10 years, there was also the issue of reviewing the constitution. I felt that the parliament was the place to reform the constitution,' he said. 'I had thought of participating in the parliamentary elections because I felt that it was important to conduct the investigation into the disappearances, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the implementation of the Gen-G movement agreement through parliament.'
After the nomination, he said that he had received suggestions from all parties that it would be better to sit as a common person rather than standing for a single party. 'The issues raised by Gen-G demand consensus, and it has also been said that they can be resolved by sitting as common guardians,' he said.
He said that he has not made any commitment to support anyone after withdrawing his candidacy. However, he said that he is ready to support individuals and forces committed to progressive democracy with ideas.
'The Progressive Democratic Party has already accepted me as a guardian. The new alternative forces have also seen me as a guardian,' he said.
Earlier, when asked by Kantipur about meeting former Kathmandu Metropolitan City mayor and Jhapa-5 candidate Balendra Shah, Bhattarai responded that he was open to suggestions and advice if he had anything concrete.
Bhattarai had filed his candidacy from the Progressive Democratic Party (Pralopa) in Gorkha-2. Earlier today, the National Independent Party had also urged him to withdraw his candidacy. Prakash Chandra Dawadi from the Congress, Lekhnath Neupane from the NCP, party general secretary Kabindra Burlakoti from the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, and Milan Gurung (Milan Chakre) from the UML are in the fray in Gorkha-2.
