By giving away Rukum East and West, UML has taken the support of Pralopa in 11 districts of Karnali and Lumbini, while it is collaborating with the CPN (Maoist) in Dang-2 and Kalikot.
What you should know
The UML, which fielded candidates in 165 constituencies directly under the House of Representatives elections on 6th Magh, is deciding on one electoral alliance after another.
After the deadline for withdrawal of candidatures passed, the UML on Sunday coordinated with the Progressive Democratic Party (PRLP) in 13 districts of Karnali and Lumbini. Earlier, the UML had withdrawn its candidacy in Manang to help the Nepali Congress.
The UML has coordinated with the PRLP in Surkhet, Dailekh, Kalikot, Mugu, Dolpa, Jajarkot, Salyan and Rukum West in Karnali Province and Rukum East, Dang, Rolpa and Pyuthan in Lumbini. Among them, the two parties agreed on Sunday that the UML will support the PRLP candidate in Rukum East and Rukum West, and the PRLP will vote for the UML candidate in other districts. The agreement was signed by UML Vice-President Ram Bahadur Thapa and PRLP President Durga Sob.
The coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the candidate in Rukum East, where the UML is going to support PRLP. Pralopa, which was formed by former Maoist leaders, has fielded Sandeep Pun in the contest there. Pralopa's patron, who was the then Deputy General Secretary of the Maoists, is the candidate in Rukum West. Gopal Sharma is the candidate from the NCP in Rukum West.
The agreement between the two parties states that 'It has been agreed that UML will vote in favor of Pralopa's Rukum West candidate Janardan Sharma and Rukum East candidate Sandeep Pun with an eye sign.' UML had fielded Leelamani Gautam in Rukum East and Nandaram Devkota in Rukum West. According to a UML leader, Pralopa has reached an understanding that it will support the UML candidate in the provincial assembly elections to be held in 2084.
UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Pralopa's patron Janardan Sharma discussed coordination in Gundu, Bhaktapur two weeks ago. UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel had directed to implement the agreement reached with Pralopa at a program attended by Rukum East candidate Leelamani Gautam in Dang Ghorahi on Sunday. UML Publicity Department Chief Min Bahadur Shahi said that the coordination agreement reached with Pralopa will be implemented honestly in Rukum East and Rukum West as well as in districts other than Humla and Jumla in Karnali.
NCP Coordinator Dahal is under pressure after UML will support Pralopa candidate Sandeep Pun of Maoist background in Rukum East. In the 2079 election, the then Maoist party got 8,271 votes in the proportional representation in Rukum East. The Congress got 5,692 votes and the UML got 3,659 votes. In the direct election, the Maoist party's Purna Bahadur Gharti won by getting 12,262 votes from the alliance between the Congress and Maoists. UML's Kailash Kumar Malla got 5,211 votes.
In 2079 BS, the Maoists got 34,347 votes, the UML got 8,769 votes, and the Congress got 8,766 votes in the proportional representation in Rukum West. At that time, Janardan Sharma from the Maoists won from Rukum West, who is now a candidate from Pralopa. Sharma had 39,549 votes. The nearest rival, Nandaram Devkota of the UML, got 12,961 votes. There, the Maoists had coordinated with the Congress, the Unified Socialist Party and other parties. There are 106,660 voters in Rukum West. This number is 2,380 more than in 2079 BS.
Leaders say that although there was an agreement to take support from Pralopa in Kalikot, the UML has an informal agreement to support the CPN (Maoist) in that area. In return, they say that the Maoists will support the UML in Dang-2. Maoist spokesperson Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma is the candidate in Kalikot and UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel is the candidate in Dang-2.
