Despite a few minor incidents, nominations for the March 5 elections concluded across the country largely peacefully on Tuesday. Several high-profile candidates from various political parties filed their nominations at the Election Commission’s offices in their respective constituencies. But some high-profile and familiar faces in the Nepali politics are also out of the race.

Five-time prime minister and former Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba is among the heavyweights who will not contest this election after being denied a ticket. Deuba had been contesting elections and winning from his home district of Dadheldurha since 1991. But after a leadership change in the Congress last week following the election of a new central working committee led by Gagan Thapa, he was left out of the candidate list.

On Monday night, Deuba’s private secretariat issued a statement saying that he would not contest this time. Not only Deuba, his wife Arzu Rana Deuba, who was aspiring to contest from Kailali, was also left out.

But four other former prime ministers—KP Oli, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai—have filed their nominations from Jhapa-5, Rukum East, Rautahat-1 and Gorkha-2, respectively.

One of the most interesting and high-profile contests is taking place between Oli and Balen Shah, who resigned as Kathmandu mayor earlier this week to contest the election. He is especially popular among young voters and has millions of followers on social media. When Shah, now a senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) reached Jhapa on Tuesday to file his nomination, thousands of people gathered to see him. Shah is projected as the prime ministerial candidate of his party.

After the nominations, clashes broke out briefly between supporters of Shah and Oli.

Former prime minister Dahal switched from Gorkha to Rukum East this time, saying he has a habit of setting records.

“I have not contested elections repeatedly from the same constituency. I contested simultaneously from Rolpa and Kathmandu, then from Siraha, then from Chitwan and Gorkha, and now I have arrived in Rukum East,” he told journalists after filing his nomination on Tuesday.

Dahal’s major challenger in the constituency is Sandeep Pun, the son of a martyr of the Maoist insurgency.

Former prime minister Nepal filed his nomination from his hometown of Rautahat-1. Former prime minister Bhattarai, who had earlier decided not to contest, filed his nomination from Gorkha-2. He has expressed support for alternative forces and the September Gen Z movement, and expects backing from the RSP.

Besides former prime ministers, several party chairmen and presidents filed nominations on Tuesday. Gagan Kumar Thapa, who was elected president of the Nepali Congress through the special general convention last week, filed nomination from Sarlahi-4. His main opponent is Amresh Kumar Singh, a former Nepali Congress leader and now a candidate of the RSP. Singh won the constituency twice in the past, once from Congress and once as an independent. Thapa was elected from Kathmandu-4 twice in the past, but this time, he changed his constituency.

Similarly, RSP chief Rabi Lamichhane filed nomination from Chitwan-3, where he has won twice in the past. Both Thapa and Lamichhane filed their candidacies through their attorneys-in-fact.

Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chief Rajendra Lingden filed nomination from Jhapa-3, and Janata Samajbadi Party chief Upendra Yadav from Saptari-3.

Second-rung Congress leaders General Secretaries Pradeep Poudel and Gururaj Ghimire are contesting from Kathmandu and Morang, respectively. Senior Congress leaders Shekhar Koirala, Bimalendra Nidhi, among others, have also filed the nominations.

Likewise, UML’s General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, Ujyalo Nepal Party chief and former energy minister Kulman Ghising, and senior Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha also filed thir candidacies Tuesday. Another high-profile contest will be between the immediate past mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City Renu Dahal and RSP’s Sobita Gautam, in Chitwan-2.

Harka Sampang, who resigned as mayor of Dharan Submetropolis to contest the election, filed his nomination from Sunsari-1, while Renu Dahal, who also stepped down as Bharatpur mayor to enter the race, is contesting from Chitwan-2.

Congress General Secretary Poudel, RPP’s Kamal Thapa, CPN-UML leader and former deputy prime minister Ishwar Pokhrel, and RSP's Sashmit Pokhrel are all contesting from Kathmandu-5.

Several top Congress leaders, including Purna Bahadur Khadka, Dhanraj Gurung, Prakashman Singh, Mohan Basnet, Deepak Khadka, Sujata Koirala and Shashanka Koirala were denied tickets this time.

Four ministers of the incumbent Sushila Karki government, who resigned to contest the election, have filed nominations—Ghising, Jagadish Kharel, Bablu Gupta, and Mahabir Pun are contesting from Kathmandu-3, Lalitpur-2 , Siraha-1, and Myagdi, respectively.

Likewise, some senior UML leaders, including Yogesh Bhattarai, Gokul Baskota, Surendra Pandey, Krishna Gopal Shrestha were also denied tickets. They had been critical of CPN-UML chief Oli in recent months.

Senior RPP leaders like Pashupati Sumsher Rana, Dhawal Sumsher Rana, Bikram Pandey, Prakash Chandra Lohani, Buddiman Tamang, and Bikram Pandey were also denied tickets.

According to Congress, out of 165 candidates, 103 are new faces, while UML leaders said half of their candidates are new.