KATHMANDU, March 28: The popularity of the major political parties will be tested in the by-elections for the members of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on April 27 in Ilam-2 and Bajhang (A).

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also the Chairman of the ruling CPN (Maoist Center), broke the alliance with the Nepali Congress on March 4 and created a new power coalition. In the by-elections, major political parties have prepared to compete alone.

Dahal has formed a new power alliance with the parties including the CPN-UML based on the decision of the Nepali Congress (NC) not to ally in the general elections to be held in 2084 BS. The ruling coalition parties are also preparing to fight alone in the by-elections. With the UML, the main constituent of the ruling coalition, nominating candidates for byelections in Ilam-2 and Bajhang (A), two other ruling parties - the Maoist Center and CPN (United Socialist) - have also announced that they will field their candidates on their own.

UML has decided to field Suhang Nemwang, the son of the party's late leader Subash Chandra Nemwang, as a candidate in the by-election for the member of the House of Representatives to be held in Ilam-2. Similarly, the UML has nominated Daman Bahadur Bhandari as the candidate for the provincial assembly member in the election to be held in Bajhang (A).

UML, which announced its candidate without discussing with the parties in the ruling coalition, then proposed to the Maoist Center and CPN (Unified Socialist) to cooperate in the by-elections. CPN (Unified Socialist) had taken the stand that their party's candidate should be in Bajhang from the alliance. UML could not agree to that. After the alliance did not agree on the issue of joint candidacy, CPN (Unified Socialist) decided to field Jit Bahadur Rai in Ilam-2 and Dil Bahadur Singh in Bajhang (A).      

Similarly, a meeting of the Maoist Center on Wednesday has decided to field candidates in both constituencies. However, the candidates haven’t been finalized. “It has been decided that the party will field candidates in both the constituencies,” Maoist Center Vice Chairman Agni Prasad Sapkota said after the meeting, “We will finalize the names of the candidates soon.” The Maoist Center Koshi Province Committee has recommended the names of Dhirendra Sharma Timsina, Urmila Tamang, Om Bahadur Gurung, and Kumar Baraili for the by-election in Ilam-2.

In the general elections held on November 20, 2022, for the House of Representatives and the provincial assemblies, the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which did not field a candidate for the provinces, is also going to contest alone in Ilam-2. The party is preparing to announce their candidate in a few days.

With the formation of a new power coalition, NC, which has become the main opposition party in the federal parliament, is also going to field its candidates in both constituencies. Seven people have aspired to become candidates in Ilam-2. The NC District Working Committee has recommended the names of Dambar Bahadur Khadka, Nagendra Kumal, Ramesh Lingden, Chandra Maya Limbu, Bhesh Raj Acharya, Keshav Thapa and Shani Kal Tamang as candidates to the provincial committee.

In the election held on November 20, 2022,  Dambar Bahadur Khadka of the NC became a candidate from Ilam-2 with the support of the Maoists. However, Khadka was defeated by UML leader Subash Chandra Nemwang by a narrow margin. NC General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Joint General Secretary Bhishmaraj Angdambe have reached Ilam to decide who is suitable to be nominated there. NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba will nominate a candidate based on their recommendation.

Satya Raj Bhandari, Bishnu Kumar Singh, Jagat Prasad Joshi, Nanda Krishna Joshi, Lokendra Bahadur Rokaya, Shanti Kumari Bohora, Arjun Syedan, Dhruva Raj Upadhyaya, Narayan Hamal and Abhishek Singh of the NC have expressed their desire to become candidates in the by-elections to be held in Bajhang-(A) for the provincial assembly. The names of all of them have been recommended by the district committee of the party. The NC has said it will nominate its candidates for both constituencies on March 31.

UML leader Subash Chandra Nemwang, who was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Ilam-2, passed away on September 12, 2023. Similarly, Prithvi Bahadur Singh of NC, who was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly from Bajhang (A), died in a car accident on July 10. By-elections are going to be held on April 27 for both the constituencies.

 
• Bajhang_(A)
 
• by-elections
 
• Ilam-2