National
Shashank NC’s only rep in House from Province 4
Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala, who won the election to the House of Representative from East Nawalparasi-1, is the lone NC representative to the federal parliament from Province 4.Lal Prasad Sharma
Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala, who won the election to the House of Representative from East Nawalparasi-1, is the lone NC representative to the federal parliament from Province 4.
Out of the 18 federal seats up for grabs in the province, the CPN-UML swept to victory in 13 constituencies in the province in what turned out to be the worse election results for the country’s grand old party. The CPN (Maoist Centre), an electoral ally of the UML, won three with the Naya Shakti Party Nepal securing the other seat.
In East Nawalparasi, two NC candidates have been elected to the Province Assembly, whereas NC could muster only one provincial seat each in Manang, Kaski, Gorkha and Syangja districts. There are 11 districts in Province 4.
NC leaders Ram Chandra Paudel, Gopalman Shrestha, Yagya Bahadur Thapa, Champadevi Khadka, Tek Bahadur Gurung, Romi Gauchan Thakali and Shankar Bhandari suffered defeat in the federal parliament elections. Maoist Centre leader Narayankaji Shrestha of the left alliance also suffered a loss in the election to the House of Representatives from the province.
The province is considered to be a Congress “vote bank”. But the NC leaders barely had any good works to showcase as they reached out to the electorate in the lead-up to the elections, noted Kapilmani Dahal, an associate professor of Political Science at Prithvi Narayan Campus in Pokhara.
“They were also involved in making controversial decisions. Even the party leaders failed to play a decisive role. These are the major factors that brought about humiliation to the NC,” said Dahal, adding that the Congress did not have a proper strategy to take on the left alliance of the UML and Maoist Centre in the elections.
Meanwhile, only three female candidates have been elected in Province 4. Two UML candidates—Padma Kumari Aryal from Syangja-2 and Nardevi Pun Magar of Myagdi—have been elected to the federal parliament, while Maoist Centre’s Asha Koirala has been elected to Provincial Assembly in Tanahun. There are 36 provincial seats in Province 4.