Janardan Sharma of the Progressive Democratic Party (PRP) and Gopal Sharma of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), who are competing for the upcoming House of Representatives seat, have been each other's allies and colleagues in all the elections up to 2079 BS. While Gopal was in the then CPN-Maoist Center, he was running the party and Janardan was running the parliament, the two have become competitors in this election due to the split in the Maoists.

After Pushpa Kamal Dahal united with various parties and constituents and transformed the Maoists into the NCP, Janardan Sharma, who did not join the unity and formed a separate party, Pralopa, is the guardian of this party. He has strengthened the rebel voice within the party by saying that he is in favor of ‘leadership transference’ and has finally become a candidate from Rukum West.

The Maoists, which came to the peace process after 10 years of armed struggle, began their parliamentary journey through the Constituent Assembly elections held in 2064 BS. Janardan, who won for the first time in this election, was elected as an MP from the then Janamorcha in 2048 BS. At that time, he was defeated by Gopalji Jung Shah of the Nepali Congress, but he has been winning continuously in all the elections since 2064 BS.

Although Janardan, whose permanent address is Musikot Municipality-5, Rukum West, has been winning from this constituency in previous elections, his victory in this election is not easy. He has left the party he used to work for and started a new journey, and now the leaders and workers he created in the past are the challengers. On this issue, Janardan faction leader Gorkha Bahadur KC said that he took it as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

‘The previous party was dissolved rather than split. That is why, like Dahal, Janardan has also started a new journey. We have moved forward in the spirit of the Maoist movement,’ he said.

Janardan Sharma, who has been involved in politics since 2034 BS, has a history of being a platoon and battalion commissar of the ‘People’s Liberation Army’ formed during the armed struggle of the then Maoists, from division commander to deputy commander. After the Maoists entered the peace process from the war, he was elected as a member of the Interim Legislative Assembly in 2063 BS, a member of the Army Integration Special Committee in 2064 BS, a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2064 BS, Minister of Peace and Reconstruction in 2065 BS, and again as a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2070 BS.

Similarly, he had the opportunity to become the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in 2071, Minister of Energy in 2073, Minister without portfolio in 2074, Member of the House of Representatives in 2074, Home Minister in the same year, and Finance Minister in 2078. After that, he continued his victory in the 2079 House of Representatives elections.

Janardan, who has held various positions and responsibilities in this way, is now looking for another opportunity, which he has called 'the last time'. It seems that the Gopal Sharma faction has raised this issue a little more. Gopal, who is saying that they made Janardan a powerful leader and now he has betrayed him, is the same leader who repeatedly took command of the party and elections in the district when Janardan was being elected as an MP.

Gopal Sharma of Lahersimal, Chaurjahari Municipality-5, Rukum West, who considers Janardan Sharma as his 'political guru', says that he entered politics at the age of 12 as the chairman of the sub-unit committee of the then student organization ANRFSUYU, which was formed in 2046 BS at Sheetal Secondary School in Chaurjahari. After that, he worked at various levels of the student organization, holding responsibilities up to the district and center. He worked from Rukum to Banke-Bardiya during the war, holding responsibilities for various party committees, and said that he worked as the head of the 'Election Mobilization Committee' in the 2064 elections.

'Since then, I have been a person who has been trying to win the party-organization and Janardan,' he said while talking about his political journey. 'From 2062 to 2077, I was the district chairman and coordinator of the party. Since 2079, I have been a central member of the party. This was more of a responsibility than my choice, which I carried out with the utmost honesty.’

In addition, Gopal was directly elected as a member of the Karnali Provincial Assembly from Rukum West in 2074 BS and also became the Finance Minister. But he says that all these responsibilities were given to him by the party/organization as a necessity rather than by himself asking for them and he worked accordingly.

Janardan and Gopal, who once worked shoulder to shoulder in the same party-organization, have become each other’s main competitors in the current election, so the upcoming election here is likely to be interesting.

Gopal, who is moving the party and election activities forward based on the organizational basis of the then Maoists, is certainly somewhat comfortable. But the task of continuing his victory by gathering his old leaders and workers in the new party is challenging for Janardan.

Accusing him of being a ‘fraudster and opportunist’, the Gopal faction is trying to convince voters by saying, ‘We are not Janardan anymore, we are the ones’, while the Janardan faction is asking for votes by saying, ‘The development up to now has been under its own leadership and now it is for its continuation.’

In previous elections, alliances have been formed between various parties. This time, after the deadline for withdrawing candidatures passed, the UML has decided to practically deactivate the candidacy of its candidate Nandaram Devkota and directly support Janardan. This can be expected to make it easier for him to win.

In the 2079 BS House of Representatives election, Janardan Sharma won directly with the support of the Congress by getting 39,549 votes, while Nandaram Devkota of the UML got 12,961 votes. This time, the Congress has fielded Raju KC and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSWP) has fielded Man Bahadur Shahi. Apart from this, 7 other parties have also fielded their own candidates.

There are a total of 16,660 voters in Rukum West for the upcoming election. This number is 2,380 more than the previous election. NCP candidate Gopal Sharma is preparing to secure the votes of the former Maoist Center and attract more votes and win, while Pralopa's Janardan Sharma is preparing to secure his former votes as much as possible and win with the support of UML.

Looking at the past competition, although it is widely assumed that the main competition will be between Janardan and Gopal this time, it cannot be ruled out that candidates from other parties including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can challenge him. Therefore, whether Janardan protects his legacy or Gopal starts the victory or another candidate wins as a third character - this is a matter for the vote results to decide.