In the Makawanpur-1 constituency, which has become known as a constituency that changes minds in every election, young candidates have challenged older candidates in the House of Representatives elections on February 21.

There is also intense competition among the veteran candidates. As the cold weather recedes, the election fever is increasing. Each candidate is reaching door to door. The candidates are appealing to the voters by presenting their respective agendas.

This constituency includes 15 wards of Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City of Makawanpur, 4 wards of Bakaiya, Bagmati Rural Municipality and Makawanpurgadhi Rural Municipality. There are 23 candidates in Makawanpur-1, which has 40 wards, including 13 from 13 parties and 10 independents. Out of the 23 candidates, 5 are women. Three of them are contesting from different parties.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has re-contested 64-year-old former MP Deepak Bahadur Singh in this constituency. The Congress has fielded 61-year-old Mahalaxmi Upadhyay 'Dina'. The EML has fielded 63-year-old Rameshwor Rana.

The Nepali Communist Party (NCP) has fielded 40-year-old Vijay Gautam, the National Independent Party (RASWP) has fielded 37-year-old Prakash Gautam, the CPN-Maoist has fielded 38-year-old Mahesh Nepali, the Ujjwal Nepal Party has fielded 36-year-old Surendra Lama, the Progressive Democratic Party (PRLP) has fielded 41-year-old Ramesh Prasad Upreti, and the Shram Sanskriti Party has fielded 41-year-old Bidya Shrestha Maharjan.

The Janata Samajwadi Party (single election symbol) has fielded 34-year-old Deepak Sintan, the Mongol National Organization has fielded 43-year-old Yubaraj Lama, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has fielded 54-year-old Ranjana Suwal Magju, and the JSP Nepal has fielded 47-year-old Rupak Lama.

The young candidates are giving tough competition to the old and former big parties. The old candidates have a hard time preserving their legacy. In the 2079 election, RPP's Deepak Bahadur Singh won from the constituency by securing 27,816 votes. His nearest rival, Congress's Mahalaxmi Upadhyay, secured 25,423 votes. In that election, the former Maoist Center and the Unified Socialists supported Congress candidate Mahalaxmi. In that election, the then RPP Nepal President Kamal Thapa, who ran as a candidate from the UML with the UML's sun symbol, secured 25,420 votes, while Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh candidate Takaraj Thapa secured 1,860 votes. In the seven general elections held in this constituency from 2048 BS to 2079 BS, the voters of this constituency have made candidates from different parties victorious. Ramesh Lamichhan, a former teacher and writer from the same area who was closely watching the Falgun 21 election, said, ‘The voters of Makawanpur-1 are unstable, they are not like stagnant water in a pond. The election results cannot be easily predicted because they are like flowing water.’

In the first general election of 2048 BS after the restoration of democracy, UML’s Krishna Prasad Dahal had won from that constituency. His closest competitor was RPP’s Kamal Thapa. In the mid-term elections of 2051 BS, Kamal Thapa had won from that constituency by defeating UML’s Krishna Prasad Dahal.

UML’s Krishna Prasad Dahal had won in the 2056 BS election. Even then, Kamal Thapa had become his closest competitor. In the first Constituent Assembly election of 2064 BS, Maoist Dil Bahadur Ghising had won. His closest competitor was Badri Lamsal of UML. In the second election to the Constituent Assembly, Indra Bahadur Baniya of the Congress had won from this constituency. At that time, his closest competitor was Anraj Jarghamgar of UML.

Krishna Prasad Dahal of UML had won from Makawanpur-1 in the 2074 general election. Kamal Thapa of the RPP became the closest competitor. The UML supported Kamal Thapa in that election. Deepak Bahadur Singh of the RPP won the 2079 election. Mahalaxmi Upadhyay 'Dina' of the Congress became the closest competitor.

‘The votes and minds of the voters in this area are unstable, so the results may be different from what was expected,’ Lamichhane said, ‘Since the voters here are aware and conscious, the results may have changed every time.’ Out of the 19 wards of Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, 15 wards including the market fall in this area. The voters of Hetauda Municipality are the decision makers here.

Amar Dangal, Amik Pariyar, Tika Prasad Chaulagain, Pramila Kumari Khatiwada, Mithu Kumari Magar, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Ram Kumar Khadka, Rajaram Bogati, Sushila Subedi and Gyansagar Lama are candidates from this area.

Rana of UML, Dina of Congress and Singh of RPP are not only mature in age, they have also handled political responsibilities in various fields. Rana has also been the chairman of the then District Development Committee Makawanpur and the district chairman of the Land Commission. Dina of the Congress has also become the Minister of State for Water Resources, while Singh of the RPP has assumed the responsibility of the Minister of State for Energy. NCP candidate Vijay Gautam and RSP candidate Prakash Gautam are contesting the election from this constituency for the first time.