The Rastriya Swatantra Party on Sunday selected Lekh Jung Thapa as its candidate for Rupandehi-3 by-election. Thapa was selected through a primary election conducted last Friday and Saturday.

The RSP has considered the Rupandehi-3 by-poll closely tied to its prestige because the party’s chairman, Rabi Lamichhane, was held in Rupandehi prison in judicial custody for a few months over the cooperative fraud case. Now he has been transferred to Nakkhu jail in Lalitpur.

The party did not conduct a primary for previous by-polls. In the case of Rupandehi-3, the party chose Thapa, from Siddharthanagar Municipality-9, as its candidate through voting.

However, as soon as Thapa was selected for the candidacy, he courted controversy over accusations of polygamy.

RSP has defended Thapa. The party leaders argue that he had already divorced with the first wife and that there was no point in politicising his private affair.

The Thapa family have been living together, considering that their terminated relations do not affect their children, the party leaders claimed. Thapa lives in Bhairahawa with his second wife while his first wife lives in Kathmandu. The child from his first wife also lives with him in Bhairahawa, according to a party leader.

“It is not necessary to politicise every issue. Our party candidate Thapa, married his second wife after divorcing his earlier wife,” said party spokesperson Manish Jha. “Considering the psychological impact it could make on their children, they sometimes spend time together.”

Jha ruled out the possibility of reconsidering the candidate. No one else will be considered as an alternative to Thapa for the by-election, he said.

After controversy arose against Thapa, the party had scheduled an interaction between Thapa and journalists at the party central office on Monday.

Thapa has said that he married his second wife only after divorcing his first wife and that he was ready to provide proof if necessary. However, the party cancelled the interaction with journalists at the last moment raising doubt over his claim.

RSP General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti said the interaction was deferred after Thapa himself decided to make his divorce documents public through his social media accounts. The party leaders were not ready to provide the divorce documents to the Post.

Since polygamy is a criminal offence in Nepal, if any candidate has a case of polygamy filed against them and the law finds the candidate guilty, their candidacy may be revoked even after it has been registered, says Bishnu Prasad Poudel, an officer at the Election Commission’s legal section.

“As the law provides for up to five years’ imprisonment in criminal cases, candidacy will be cancelled if the charges are proven,” Poudel said.

For the by-elections scheduled for November 3, the commission has set October 7 as the date for filing nominations. Complaints against the candidates can be filed on October 8. The complaints will be investigated and decided upon on October 9.

Party leaders have come forward to shield Thapa against the polygamy allegation.

“It did not appear to me that there were any faults in the process, and I still do not believe there were fundamental flaws,” said RSP central committee member Ganesh Karki, regarding the primary election to select the candidate for the by-poll. However, some weaknesses might be there, requiring investigation and a proper conclusion, he said.

“I have learnt that in relation to polygamy, our candidate Thapa has already obtained a divorce from his first wife, though their relationship still remains amicable,” Karki said. “If the marriage has been legally dissolved, the rest is personal matter.”

The intra-party competition was conducted among eight contenders—Thapa, Parthibendra Upadhyay, Uma Adhikari, Sulav Kharel, Gyanu Poudyal, Jit Bahadur Gupta, Kusum Maharjan, Rachana Chhetri, and Madhu Aryal.

RSP invited applications from the aspirants after the election date was fixed. From among the applicants, nine were shortlisted on August 7.

The federal seat of Rupendehi-3 went vacant after lawmaker Deepak Bohara of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party passed away in April.