Sajha Party has announced its candidate for the by-election in Kaski constituency No 2.

Organising a press meet in Pokhara on Wednesday, the party declared Rajani KC as the party candidate for the upcoming by-election. Suryaraj Acharya, the party spokesperson, said the two-day central committee meeting held in Pokhara decided to field KC, the central member of the party, for the by-election. According to him, the party endorsed the recommendation of the district and provincial committees.

The by-election is scheduled to be held in Kaski constituency No 2. on November 30 to elect a member for the House of Representatives. 

The constituency is vacant following the death of Rabindra Adhikari.

Adhikari was elected from the constituency in the 2017 election from the then CPN-UML. He was serving as the minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation in the incumbent government when he died in a helicopter crash in Taplejung on February 27. 

Sajha Party is the first party to announce its candidate for the by-election. 

KC, who was previously associated with the Nepali Congress, defected to Sajha Party on September 14. She joined the party after resigning from her post as the deputy administrator at Pokhara University.

Following her candidacy announcement, KC presented a five-point election commitment, which includes refusing the fund under the controversial Local Infrastructure Development Partnership Programme. 

The government has decided to distribute Rs 60 million each to all federal lawmakers to develop their constituencies. The decision, however, has been criticised by various quarters, saying that it could lead to fund misuse and promote irregularities.

Besides refusing the fund under the Infrastructure Development Partnership Programme, KC will also not be receiving any fund from her party as election expenditure. 

Sajha Party Chairman of the Sajha Party Rabindra Mishra said though the upcoming by-election was a priority, the party will not provide any money to the candidate to run the campaign.

“The party will accept donations from well-wishers to run the election campaign as per the code of conduct of the Election Commission,” he said.

Major parties struggling to pick candidates

Major political parties, including the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition, Nepali Congress (NC), are yet to pick their candidates.

The NCP is defending its seat in Kaski constituency No. 2 vacated following Adhikari’s the death. The party, however, has yet to decide its candidate. 

“We were planning to recommend Bidhya Bhattarai, late Adhikari’s wife. But the party has asked us to recommend three possible candidates to the central committee. We are working to pick the names,” said NCP district chairman Krishna Thapa.

The NC, too, is also struggling to pick its by-election candidate. The regional committee of the party has asked aspirant candidates to register their names by providing Rs 10,000 to the party. Sixteen party members have submitted their names.

“We have sent all 16 names to the centre. The party central committee will decide the candidate,” said Krishna KC, the NC district president.