Chitra Bahadur KC is a leftist leader who is adept at delivering powerful speeches in the parliament on the concerns of the common man, nationality, good governance, and federalism in a Baglung dialect. His strong opposition to federalism, his support for a centralized system, and his simple lifestyle are further hallmarks of his.

84-year-old KC is also a candidate in this year's elections - not directly, but in proportional representation. Although he is a proportional representation candidate, many Baglung residents expect that he will come door to door asking for votes like before. 

He has been contesting elections since 2051 and has been defeated once, elected once through proportional representation, and did not become a candidate at all once. In 2051, he was defeated in the House of Representatives from Baglung-2. In 2056 and 2064, he won from Baglung-2. In 2070, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly through proportional representation. He was not a candidate in 2074. In 2079, he won from Baglung-1. From Kartik 2072 to Shrawan 2073, he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation. 

Janamorcha had aligned with UML in 051 and 056, with UML and the then Maoists in 074, and with Congress, Maoists and other parties in 079. KC won in 064 without aligning with anyone.

This time, there is an alignment with the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) in Baglung. Accordingly, Janamorcha has fielded Krishna Prasad Adhikari in Baglung-1, and there is an agreement to support NCP's Gyannath Gaire in Baglung-2, where Janamorcha is considered to have strong public support. 

This time, KC is the number one candidate from the Khas Arya male group in the proportional representation. Since the 3 percent vote threshold has to be crossed to become an MP through the proportional representation, the journey to parliament is challenging for KC. In the 079 election, Janamorcha had brought only 46,504 votes (0.44 percent) from across the country in the proportional representation. Janamorcha, which submitted a closed list of 110 proportional candidates to the Election Commission, has directly fielded candidates in 40 constituencies.

In the 2079 election, Janamorcha's KC won from Baglung-1 by getting 21,464 votes. His nearest rival, UML's Surya Prasad Pathak, got 18,845 votes. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Khimananda Kandel had 9,181 votes. In 2074, UML's Pathak won from the Left Alliance with 33,657 votes. His nearest rival, Congress' Champadevi Khadka, got 20,616 votes. 

Janamorcha Baglung Nagar President Thaneshwor Subedi said that KC did not directly field his candidacy due to his age and health. 

'He did not agree to stand in the 2079 election due to his age. We forced him to stand. On behalf of the alliance, the then Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had also urged him to contest the elections,' he said. 'This time too, we had directly requested him to become a candidate. He did not agree.' Subedi, who will be going all over the country to seek votes using KC's name, said

. 'He is like the logo of the Janamorcha, a national personality. There is no other leader like him who can advocate for the livelihood of the people and nationalism,' he added. 'He sat on the proportional representation system after the party requested us to prepare the basis for going all over the country to seek votes using his name, even though he did not want to sit on the proportional representation system at first.'

KC, a native of Baglung's Galkot Malma, currently lives in Butwal. In 2079, he spent a month traveling through 37 wards of his constituency to collect votes. 'This time, we will call him to Baglung even if it is for one day to seek votes,' Subedi said.

KC had been involved in politics since the age of 16 in 2014, becoming a member of the Communist Party. In 2031, he became a central member. KC, who became the general secretary of the party in 2041, became the president of the unformed Rastriya Janamorcha in 2052 and is still in the same position. 

KC himself does not seem confident about becoming an MP this time. ‘The election to be held in 2084 was postponed to 2082 due to manipulation. Our party believes that foreign manipulation has increased,’ he said on the telephone from Butwal. ‘We will go to the people to seek votes with the policies and principles of the Janamorcha. Let’s see how much the people believe in it,’ he said. ‘They will not vote even if the Janamorcha does not go to the government.’

KC comments that voters follow candidates and parties with access rather than policies, principles, and ideas. ‘I did not know that there was so much foreign interference in my political life. "People also get involved with foreigners, they follow corrupt people," he said. "This time too, will they shoot themselves in the foot or vote for the people's candidate, let's see?" He said that voters should think before casting their votes. 

He said that since his wife has been suffering from Alzheimer's for the past three years, he has been more focused on her treatment than party work and politics. "I am still in the hospital to get my wife treated. I am also thinking of taking time out to meet voters," he said.

In Baglung-1, Janamorcha's Krishna Prasad Adhikari's Alaba Bhim Sris from the Congress, Hira Bahadur KC from the UML, Sushil Khadka from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Kalyan Bikram Acharya from the RPP, and Bhaktaram Sunar from the Nepal Humanist Party are also candidates. Similarly, Lal Bahadur Gharti from the Shram Sanskriti Party, Gomakumari Budhamagar from the Mongol National Organization, Chitra Sapkota from the Progressive Democratic Party, Sahabir Thapa from the National Republic Nepal and Tek Bahadur KC from the CPN-Maoist have registered their candidacies.

In Baglung-2, Tek Raj Poudel from the Nepali Congress, Manju Sharma Chalise from the UML, Gyannath Gaire from the CPN in alliance with the Janamorcha, Som Sharma from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha, Anchal Shahi from the RPP, and Harka Bahadur Pun from the Shram Sanskriti Party have filed their candidacies. Lokendra Ghimire from the CPN-Maoist, Padam Kunwar from the Progressive Democratic Party, Tek Prasad Kami from the Nepal Humanist Party, Kopila Gharti from the Mongol National Organization, Purna Bahadur Gharti from the Janata Samajwadi Party and Nar Bahadur Budha from the Nepal Republic Party have also registered their candidacies. 

Devendra Poudel, the then Maoist leader who won the 2079 election in an alliance with the Janamorcha and the Congress, has also left the Baglung constituency. Poudel, who is also a former education minister, is a candidate from Nawalparasi West-2. 

Poudel had secured 24,794 votes from Baglung-2 in the 2079 election. He was supported by the Congress and Janamorcha in the election. His closest rival, Manju Sharma of UML, secured 20,193 votes. Tila Khatri of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) secured 2,327 votes. Poudel was elected from the Left alliance in the 2074 election. 

He secured 28,827 votes while his nearest rival, Nar Bahadur Pun of the Congress, secured 19,905 votes. 

Voters in Baglung, which has 10 local levels including four municipalities and six rural municipalities, want employment, an environment where people can work and eat in their own country, quality education, health and infrastructure from their candidates. When the Kantipur team was asking about the election activities in the Dalit settlement of Tatopani under Baglung-1, Ram Bahadur Kisan said, “We have looked at others many times, let’s look at the new one once.” He said that the leaders elected so far have not been able to work according to the people’s wishes. “Leaders make big promises like bringing ships. The money that comes to the village for development gets frozen,” he said, “A municipality has been formed, we have to pay high taxes. We, the people, have suddenly become like meat for a goat.”

Local Sumishra Kisan also complained in the same way. “We cannot fill the pantry with food grains even after working all year round. Money was found all over the houses of the leaders during the Gen-G movement. The old leaders only filled their stomachs,” she said, “This time, the youth and new candidates should be given a chance.” On 24 Bhadra in Baglung, protesters vandalized and set fire to the party offices of the Congress, UML, and NCP, among others. Sitadevi Bhatta of Baglung Badre said that she learned about the elections through TikTok and Facebook, but the candidates have not come to ask for votes yet. ‘The leaders who voted earlier did nothing. This time, we will vote for a leader who acts according to the demands of the villagers,’ she said.

Santkumari Bohora of Baglung Ramrekha said that she was not enthusiastic about the elections. ‘Will the leaders give us a bag of salt after voting?’ She said, ‘Chitra Bahadur KC won elections from Baglung many times. He only makes strong speeches in parliament, but does nothing. The same will happen after the new party and candidate wins.’

Baglung-1 includes the district headquarters Baglung and Jaimini Municipality, Kathekhola and Bareng Rural Municipality. Baglung-2, which borders Rukum East and Rolpa, has Dhorpatan, Galkot Municipality and Nisikhola, Taman Khola, Badigad, and Tarakhola Rural Municipality. The Congress has won the mayor positions in Baglung and Galkot municipalities, Kathekhola, Nisikhola, Tamankhola, and Badigad rural municipalities. The Janamorcha has won the mayor positions in Jaimini municipality and Bareng rural municipalities. The UML has won the mayor positions in Dhorpatan municipality and the NCP has won the mayor positions in Tarakhola rural municipalities. 

When the Kantipur team reached Majhibasti in Baglung, local residents were busy paving roads. Devkumari Majhi, who was making tea for workers paving roads in the settlement, said, "The leaders who got votes got richer, while the poor people fell further behind. Let's not let that happen again." Som Majhi, 71, of Majhibasti, used to drive boats on the Khaniyabas Ghat connecting Parbat and Baglung. After the bridge was built, the work of ferrying passengers across the Kaligandaki River has stopped. "The leader who won the election would have assigned his son and daughter-in-law to do small jobs," he said. "Many votes were cast in this hope." No matter how many votes they cast, the suffering remained the same.'

There are 17 houses in Majhibasti. They were displaced from Bange Chaur and reached the banks of Kaligandaki during the expansion of the Baglung-Pokhara road. The local level has purchased the land and arranged for them to settle. 

Ram Prasad Upadhyay, a professor of history at Dhaulagiri Multiple Campus, Baglung, says that the political landscape of the district has changed after the Gen-G movement. 'There are signs of a new beginning in the politics of the district,' he says. 'The organizational activities of the new party have reached the villages along with the old party.' He says that despite the strong presence of new parties in Baglung and the surrounding hilly districts, it is not possible to say for sure about the election results right now. 'Citizens are disappointed with the old parties and old leaders. Baglung has sought sustainable development with honest leadership,' says Upadhyay. 'Although Chitra Bahadur KC was honest, his network did not reach the center. The district did not benefit much from him, voters are looking for honest leadership from a strong party.'

Congress District Secretary Harihar Sharma claims that Congress is the only party that can lead the new generation and lead the new generation in Baglung while building development. 'We are ready to bring a wave of development from Kaligandaki to the head of Dhorpatan,' he says, 'Congress has got new leadership. There is enthusiasm among the people. We are asking for votes together.' 

Sharma says that there will be a healthy competition with UML, CPN, Janamorcha and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the elections. 'The party organization is linked to the election-centric program. Voters are disgusted with the alliance. We will win by competing alone,' he says. 

Baglung's Gen-G leader Rohan Bhandari said that local youth will vote against corruption and in favor of good governance this time. 'There has been excessive politicization in public institutions including hospitals, schools, campuses. We want an end to that. Government budget is being misused. We will vote for the candidate who can end the practice of budget being taken by those with access,” he said. 

5,253 new voters have been added to the district. The number of female voters is more than that of male. According to the Election Office, there are 98,574 women, 94,806 men and 1 other voter. There are 98,046 voters in Constituency No. 1 and 95,335 voters in Constituency No. 2. UML District Secretary Ganesh Thapa claims that UML has secured victory this time based on past vote results, well-known candidates and people’s trust. ‘UML wants stability, development and prosperity. Voters here also want employment and development,’ he says, ‘Voters seem to be most optimistic about UML.’ 

NCP District Coordinator Pingalraj Gautam says that voters’ trust can be won by improving past shortcomings in Baglung, the fertile land of communists. ‘When there is competition among the leftists, other parties have won. This time, when the NCP and the Janamorcha come together, the people will win for us,' he says, 'The new ones who have no policies, programs, and principles will not have any impact, they have only come to show the shortcomings of the old parties.'