‘Congress changed, now we will change the country’—armed with this slogan, senior Nepali Congress leaders Pradip Paudel and Gururaj Ghimire launched their election campaigns. Yet, despite their high-profile bids as general secretaries, both suffered decisive defeats.

Ghimire, a former president of the Nepal Students’ Union, lost in Morang-4 to Santosh Rajbanshi of the Rastriya Swatantra Party by a margin of 28,015 votes. Rajbanshi secured 40,833 votes, while Ghimire managed 12,818.

Paudel, a former health minister and resident of Tanahun, was defeated in Kathmandu-5 by RSP’s Sasmit Pokharel by 29,578 votes. Pokharel received 30,737 votes, while Paudel garnered 9,159. Paudel was previously elected from the same constituency in 2022 and was elected general secretary in the party’s special convention.

Other senior Congress leaders also suffered heavy losses. Shekhar Koirala was defeated in Morang-6 by RSP’s Rubina Acharya by 42,613 votes, with Acharya receiving 55,513 and Koirala 12,850. Former party office-bearer Bimalendra Nidhi lost in Dhanusha-4 to RSP’s Manish Jha by 27,150 votes; Jha secured 43,142 votes, while Nidhi received 15,992.