Following the Election Commission decision to hold the by-election in Rupandehi-3 on November 3, political parties have geared up to select their candidates.

The federal seat became vacant after the Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Deepak Bohara passed away in April.

Some political parties such as the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and an alliance of Madhesh-based forces have started candidate selection and other preparatory works.

However, major parties including the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have yet to expedite the candidate selection process.

RSP General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti told the Post that the party’s candidate selection method will be finalised in the meeting on Sunday. The party will also conduct a primary to select the candidate, he said. A proposal for selecting suitable candidates was presented at the secretariat meeting held at the party office on Thursday.

“The final decision on the method will be made in the upcoming meeting,” he said. “Some names have already been proposed.”

Likewise, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has also started selecting candidates. A meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee decided to form an election management committee and requested the district committee to recommend potential candidates.

The Central Executive Committee meeting directed the district committee to start the election process and preparations. Party spokesperson Mohan Shrestha said that the district committee has been instructed to recommend a list of potential candidates and submit it to the central office by mid-July.

Since Bohara of the party won the last election from the constituency, the party may field someone from Bohara’s family or a relative as its candidate. Bohara’s two sons are also seen as possible candidates, an RPP leader said. “One granddaughter of Bohara is also on the list.”

An election management committee has been formed under party vice-president Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan to make the by-election preparations systematic and effective.

According to Shrestha, the election mobilisation committee includes Central Advisory Committee Chairman Niranjan Thapa, Lumbini Province Chairman Pradeep Uday, Assistant General Secretary Tahir Ali, executive committee members representing Rupandehi district, Central Working Committee members, and invited members.

On the other hand, an alliance of Madhesh-based parties has almost reached an understanding to give the Rupandehi-3 seat to Nagarik Unmukti Party, according to leaders involved in the discussions.

Seven political parties under the Sanghiya Loktantrik Morcha of the Madhesh-based parties recently held a meeting and decided to allocate the seat to Nagarik Unmukti Party but Janamat Party has some reservations over it, said Keshav Jha of the Rastriya Mukti Party.

The next meeting will take a final decision, he added.

But major parties like the Congress, the UML and the Maoist Centre have yet to begin their preparations. “We have yet to begin the preparations for the by-elections,” said Rajendra Gautam, head of the CPN-UML’s publicity department.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, spokesperson for the Nepali Congress, said that the party has not started any discussion on the Rupandehi by-polls.