Naya Shakti Nepal coordinator Baburam Bhattarai won the Gorkha-2 federal parliamentary seat for his efforts to develop the district while he was the finance minister and the prime minister.

People of Gorkha constituency-2 said they voted for Bhattarai as he was the only leader of the people in the district. They said that Bhattarai visited Gorkha up to 54 times after he won the first Constituent Assembly elections in 2008. He had made a policy of visiting Gorkha each month after he won the vote with a huge margin.

As the prime minister, Bhattarai built many roads in the district. He played a lead role in expansion of the Gorkha-Barpak (52km) and Gorkha-Bhachek (52km) roads while in power.

Bhattarai also helped with the Palungtar-Bhachek (40km) road. He contributed to construction of the Chhepetar bridge over the Daraudi river, a motorable bridge in Palungtar and the Bhumlichok bridge in Gandaki Rural Municipality.

During his time in government, he also helped build two suspension bridges to connect the remote areas with the Prithvi Highway. People said Bhattarai provided sufficient funds to construct physical infrastructure in the district through the Urban Development and Building Construction Division.

Bhattarai was able to win the Gorkha-2 seat again for these initiatives he had taken to develop the district. Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji Shrestha, senior leader of the CPN (Maoist Centre), were in the race. Bhattarai has been elected to the House of Representatives with a margin of 6,874 votes. Shrestha mustered 24, 933 votes.

In a victory rally organised at the Gorkha district headquarters, Bhattarai thanked people for electing him. “I will not let the voters down. I will visit the district every month to listen to people’s problems,” said Bhattarai, adding that he would start development activities from Gorkha. “I will become a common leader of the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre.”

Bhattarai who won elections from Gorkha-2 and 1 in the Constituent Assembly I and II, respectively, had filed his nomination as a common candidate of the Nepali Congress-led ‘democratic alliance’ while Shrestha was fielded by the left alliance.

Bhattarai had quit the left alliance after the Maoist Centre refused to accept him as the candidate for Gorkha-2. He later got NC’s support in Gorkha-2 on condition that the Naya Shakti votes for Congress candidate Chinkaji Shrestha in Gorkha-1.

A Naya Shakti candidate won the Provincial Assembly seat in Palungtar, Bhattarai’s home village.