As the election date approaches, the election atmosphere in the region is heating up. Candidates are active in internal discussions, meetings with voters, and door-to-door canvassing.
What you should know
In Makawanpur-2, there is a tug-of-war between the party candidates for the legacy. This time, the Congress and the NCP have fielded new candidates. The UML has previously fielded elected officials. Therefore, there is a competition here to protect and snatch the legacy.
Mahesh Bartaula won the election from UML for the first time in 2079 BS. The party has fielded him this time too. The Congress has fielded Buddha Lama, the NCP has fielded Lavasher Bista, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha has fielded Prashant Upreti, the NCP has fielded Ram Ghalan, the Progressive Democratic Party has fielded Santosh Bista, the Ujjaya Nepal has fielded Praveen Kumar Syangtan, and the Shram Sanskriti Party has fielded Yunesh Lama Sintan. All of them are contesting the election for the first time.
Ram Bahadur Thokar is contesting for the second time from the RPP. He was also a candidate in 2074 BS. In Makawanpur-2, 16 party and 5 independent candidates are in the fray. Two of them are female independent candidates.
As the election date approaches, the election atmosphere in the area is heating up. The candidates are active in internal discussions, meeting voters and door-to-door canvassing. This time, the UML is trying to preserve its legacy in the elections being held without an alliance. The Congress, the CPN (Maoist) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are also racing to turn the results in their favor. In 2079, Bartaula defeated Khatiwada of the Unified Socialist Party by a margin of 4,520 votes. The Congress, the Maoist Center and the Socialist Party formed an alliance in that area and made Khatiwada their candidate. Bartaula got 34,916 votes. Khatiwada got 30,396 votes. Bharat Parajuli of the RSP got 12,039 votes. Rajan Mainali of the RPP got 2,194 votes. The political situation in the district has changed in the past three years. The lack of an alliance has made the election competition interesting. The geographically remote constituency is dominated by Chepang and Tamang communities. The Chepang-dominated Kailash and Raksirang rural municipalities, including the four wards north of Thaha Municipality, Indrasarobar Rural Municipality and Makwanpurgadhi, also fall under this area. Bhimphedi and Manahari Rural Municipality are also in this area. Wards 1, 3, 11 and 19 located in the northwest of Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City fall under this area.
UML candidate Bartaula of Kailash Rural Municipality seems excited about his activism, organization and past development work. Bartaula seems to be struggling to overcome the negative impact on voters due to the role of the then Prime Minister and UML President KP Sharma Oli in the Genji movement.
Indra Baniya, elected as a Provincial Assembly member from Makwanpur-2 (2), is the Chief Minister of Bagmati Province. Lama, who has become a candidate from the Congress, is a confidant of Baniya. The challenge facing the NCP candidate Bista is to strengthen the party organization and reach out to the voters. It seems that the RSP candidate Upreti will have to reach out to the homes/doorways of all 62 wards in the area. For Bartaula, who has become the UML chief whip, the Congress's Lama and the NCP's Bista are strong competitors. The 25-year-old RSP's Upreti will also be like an iron fist for the candidates of the old parties.
It seems that the Congress has made a strategy to attract ethnic votes by making Lama the candidate in the tribal majority area. The NCP's Bista is the former mayor of Thaha Municipality. The work done by Bista during his tenure is still being discussed. A follower of Rupchandra Bista 'Rudane', Bista is presenting himself as a synonym for transparency and good governance.
The Congress has won the posts of Manahari, Kailash, Raksirang and Makawanpurgadhi rural municipalities. There is a vice-chairman of the NCP in these municipalities. While the Congress has won the deputy chief of Thaha Municipality and the vice-chairman of Bhimphedi, the NCP has only got the chief of Thaha Municipality. The chairman, vice-chairman and chairman of Indrasarovar have been elected from the UML.
From this area, Hiralal Syangtan of Mongol National Organization, Surya Tamang of National Republic Nepal, Surya Rai of Aam Janata Party, Saroj Tamang of Nemkipa, Shubharaj Chepang of Samyukta Nagarik Party, Chhabilal Waiba of JSP, and Nir Bahadur Sintan of Janamorcha have filed their candidacies. Amrit Bal, Krishnaram Shrestha, Pratiksha Baniya, Ramesh Acharya and Sitamaya Bal have filed their candidacies from independent candidates. In the 2079 House of Representatives elections, UML received 28,246 votes, Congress 21,560 votes, and Maoist Center 13,130 votes in the proportional representation system in that region.
The National Independent Party received 11,297 votes. The RPP received 3,041 votes, and the Unified Socialist Party received 2,590 votes. There are 196 polling stations in 105 polling stations in Makawanpur-2. There are 156,899 voters. Of these, 74,566 are women.
