It is expected that the Himalayan district of Humla will witness a contest between candidates from the Nepali Congress, UML, Nepal Communist Party, and the National Independent Party for the upcoming House of Representatives elections to be held on February 21. For this, all the new candidates have embarked on the election campaign for the federal parliament.

The Congress has fielded former district president Jayapati Rokaya in the election contest for the first time. He served as the president of Nepal Students' Union and Tarun Dal Humla and became the party president of Humla for two terms. He started politics from Nepal Students' Union in 2040 BS and is now a member of the party's Karnali Province Working Committee.

He was on the proportional list for the House of Representatives in 2074 BS and 2079 BS. But he did not get the opportunity to become an MP. He said that he had filed his candidacy to bring the voice of the backward district to the parliament and to make the district prosperous.

Dal Phadera is participating in the election from UML. A central member of the party, he was elected as the president of Adanchuli Rural Municipality in 2074 BS and became the president of the District Sports Development Committee in 2064 BS. He started his political journey by being selected as a representative of the ANNFSU's triple conference in 2052 BS. He said that the organizational strength, clear policies and development-oriented approach of UML are the basis of Humla's prosperity.

'Only under the leadership of UML will the long-term development of the Himalayan district be possible,' he said, 'My role will be to promote the prosperity of the district, mainstream development and nationalize local problems.' He was defeated by Maoist candidate Ransingh Pariyar from Humla 1 (A) in the last provincial assembly election. Pariyar won with 6,481 votes while Phadera received 2,099 votes.

The Nepali Communist Party (NCP) has nominated central member Dr. Dipendra Rokaya as its candidate. He was previously the district coordinator of the CPN-Maoist and is also a former member of the Karnali Province Planning Commission. He is participating in the parliamentary election for the first time. He got the ticket after the CPN recommended the names of six people. ‘My initiative will be to connect Humla with mainstream politics and solve the geographical, social and economic problems here,’ he said, ‘It is necessary to make the NCP win by working in a way that shows results, not emotional politics.’

26-year-old Tasi Lhanjom is contesting the election in Humla from the National Independent Party (NISP). Lama was initially ranked first in the women’s category of the indigenous peoples cluster in the proportional closed list of the NISP. But after the party removed her name from the list, she became a direct candidate, surpassing four candidates recommended by the district. Lama’s name was recommended as a minister in the current government. But after a controversy, she was unable to take oath. Born in Limi, Namkha Rural Municipality-6, Humla, she went to Delhi on a scholarship and passed class 12.

After studying political science at Hindu College, Delhi University, India, she returned to Nepal and worked for some time in the political and economic section of the US Embassy in Nepal. She is a documentary maker and was active in the climate change campaign. She introduced her village Limi to the world through the documentary 'No Monastery No Village' and has received awards such as 'Best Documentary' at the Nepal-America Film Festival and 'Best National Documentary Award' at the 'Nepal Cultural International Film Festival'.

She claimed that she would win based on the party's national agenda. 'Good governance, development and prosperity are our agenda,' she said, 'So far, we have introduced the remote villages of Humla to the international level, now I will be active in solving all kinds of problems here.'

In the last House of Representatives election, former Maoist Tshiring Damdul Lama (Vote) won with 14,371 votes. In Provincial Assembly 1 (1), former Maoist Ransingh Pariyar won with 6,481 votes and in Constituency No. 1 (2), Congress' Jeevan Bahadur Shahi won with 7,056 votes. In Humla, which has 7 local levels, in the last local level election, 3 local level chiefs and chairpersons were won by the Congress and 3 chiefs and chairpersons by the NCP, while one independent candidate won. Similarly, 4 deputy chiefs/vice chairpersons were won by the NCP and 3 by the Congress.