JANAKPUR, September 10: The leaders of the major political parties are in the mayoral race in the religious hub of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City scheduled for  September 18. 
The real competition is believed to be among the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) and Nepal Loktantrik Forum although 19 candidates including independents and those representing various other political parties are in the fray. 

The youths, who will be voting for the first time, will be decisive in the local poll in this historic city, analysts said. The youths could  tilt towards the Madhes-based political parties in the wake of the Madesh agitations. However, a  majority of conservative voters is in favor of NC. 

The candidates and the political parties have stepped up their publicity campaigns, putting forth their agenda  of the rights of the people, economic prosperity and the development of the city 

While all the major parties claim to be in a comfortable position, some local analysts said  the real competition is likely to be between NC and RJPN. 

Veteran leader of Janakpur Bharatbimal Yadav said that NC is mounting a challenge against RJPN, which was a dominant force at the local level before the election campaign began. “I can see the major competition being between NC and RJPN,” he said. 
NC is contesting  for the first time in Janakpur without a rebel candidate to fend off. Analysts said that RJPN is strong in the core city areas while CPN-UML has influence in the outskirts. 

RJPN has filed the candidacy of a former deputy mayor who recently quit NC to join the Madhes-based party. RJPN's candidate Raj Kishor Shah had won as a rebel NC candidate in the last local poll held 20 years ago. NC is fielding Manoj Shah in the mayoral race. 

According to local journalist Ram Ashish Yadav, people's attraction towards RJPN has waned recently after the party joined the local polls without achieving its major agenda goal of constitution amendment. The rallies of the major political parties on the day for filing candidacy were almost equal in size. But Yadav said, “NC is in quite a comfortable position due to its  strong and broad party organization.”

In the past elections, NC rebel candidates Brikesh Chandra Lal and Bajranga Sah had emerged victorious despite the NC's stranglehold on the city for years. Fielding young candidates and managing disgruntled leaders have emerged as the strong points of the grand old political. 

Former NC district president Ramsaroj Yadav claimed that NC sees its major competition coming from  RJPN in the city area and from UML in the rural areas. 

UML has fielded Laxminarayan Bhagat (Sah) for the mayoral race. Though UML is working hard to ensure results in its favor, disputes in seven various wards out of the total of 25 over the choice of candidate has become problematic for the party ahead of the September 18 poll. 

Maoist Center is more focused on winning more wards than on eyeing the mayoral post. Maoist District Chairman Jhalku Yadav said that the party has raised the agenda of the overall development of the district instead of only focusing on certain local units. 

 
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