Rai, who holds a master's degree in political science, claims that he will win because of his contributions to the urban development of Nepalgunj and the physical infrastructure of the district.
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Mohammad Istiyak Rai, who was established by the Madhesh movement, is contesting from Banke-2 this time. Having won from this constituency twice and become a minister, he has made this time's contest a matter of prestige.
Rai, the general secretary of the then Ashok Rai-led Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), has joined the UML this time. He started politics by joining the RPP in 2053 BS. Rai joined the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum led by Upendra Yadav during the 2062/063 BS people's movement. Within two years, he became a central member of the party, a secretariat member, and a central secretary. He was arrested and detained several times during the movement.
In the first Constituent Assembly member election in 2064 BS, he was elected from Banke-2 as a candidate from the then Forum. Then, in 2068 BS, he became the Minister of Labor and Transport Management. He was elected from the same constituency in the 2074 parliamentary election and became the Minister of Urban Development.
He became the Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development for a few months in the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, which was formed after the parliament dissolved by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was restored by the Supreme Court order. In 2064, he won the Constituent Assembly election by securing 19,396 votes.
He was elected in the 2074 parliamentary election from the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal by securing 21,575 votes. He suffered defeats in the 2070 and 2079 elections. This time, he is in the fray for the fifth time with the hope of breaking the series of defeats. He lost to Dinesh Chandra Yadav of UML in 2070 and Dhawal Shamsher Rana of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 2079.
Rana defeated Rai by a margin of 6,057 votes. While Rana got 29,577 votes, JSP candidate Rai got 23,520 votes. Rai is established in his constituency due to the development work he has done during his tenure. Rai, who holds a master's degree in political science, claims that he will win due to his contribution to the urban development of Nepalgunj and the physical infrastructure of the district.
This time, in his public commitments, he has said that he will re-identify Nepalgunj as a cricket center by building a modern cricket stadium, make the city a sports hub by adding facilities to the Nepalgunj stadium, implement structural development and diplomatic initiatives for the operation of Nepalgunj-New Delhi direct air flights, and implement the Nepalgunj Ring Road project.
Banke-2 is currently a famous constituency in the district. This area includes Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City and Duduwa Rural Municipality. This time, Rai from UML, Sudhanshu Koirala from Congress, Rishiraj Devkota from RPP, Vivek Shrestha from RSP and Dipendra Bista from Nepali Communist Party are the candidates.
It is not possible to be sure where the voters' inclination will go in the area where the hill, Madhesi and Muslim communities are mixed. There are 105,000 voters in this area.
