Koshi Province
UML’s Koirala, NC’s Sitaula win upper house seats from Koshi Province
Champa Devi Karki of ruling coalition loses the election while Krishna Sitaula of the same alliance wins the race.Post Report
Rukmini Koirala of the CPN-UML and Nepali Congress’ Krishna Sitaula were elected National Assembly members from Koshi Province on Thursday.
Koirala, who garnered 5,086 votes, finished 164 votes ahead of Champa Devi Karki of the CPN (Maoist Centre).
The UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party had joined forces in Koshi.
A total of 10,135 votes were cast during the National Assembly poll in the province.
The coalition—Maoist Centre, Nepali Congress, CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janata Samajbadi Party—commanded 5,474 votes in the province while the opposition parties the UML and the RPP have a total of 4,604 votes in the province. Forty-seven were independent voters.
Though the ruling coalition commands more vote weightage in the Province, a coalition candidate Karki lost the election whereas another candidate Sitaula of the same alliance won the election.
The term of 20 lawmakers in the 59-strong upper house is expiring on March 3. While 19 seats are filled through elections, one member will be nominated by the President on the Cabinet’s recommendation.
As many as 549 provincial assembly members and 1,498 chiefs and their deputies of the local units are eligible to vote in the upper house election. Their votes have a combined weightage of 57,559. A vote of the provincial assembly member carries a weightage of 53, whereas it is 19 each for the chief and deputy chiefs of the local units.