The district committees of CPN-UML, which has emerged as the largest political force in the local level elections, have unanimously recommended more than 60 candidates including most of the top rung leaders, for the upcoming federal and provincial elections. 

 According to the party secretariat, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been unanimously picked to contest the elections from Jhapa 5—his constituency since a long time—and Siraha-1. 

The move to field him from Siraha is believed to be motive of changing the stature of UML in the region as rival parties have been terming the political force to be against the sentiment of Province 2 situated in the country’s southern plains. Oli, however, is likely to choose his usual constituency.  

Senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has also been recommended from three constituencies-Kathmandu 2, Rautahat-1 and 4, while another top leader Jhala Nath Khanal has been recommended from Ilam-1. 

Though leaders have been recommended from multiple constituencies, they can only contest from only one place. The provision of a single leader contesting elections from two places has been scrapped as the number of election constituencies has been reduced to 165 from 240. 

“The district committees have unanimously recommended name of more than 60 leaders to contest the upcoming polls from different constituencies,” Surya Thapa, deputy chief of UML’s Central Publicity Department told the Post. 

The party will take final calls on the recommendations based on the decision of a taskforce formed by the left alliance for selecting candidates for the upcoming polls, Thapa added. “We will have to abide by the decision of distributing seats at a 60:40 ratio.”         

While UML Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam has been recommended unopposed from Bardiya-1 as well as from Pyuthan, party sources claim he is most likely to 

contest the elections from Bardiya. Party’s other Vice-chairman Bhim Bahadur Rawal has been recommended from Achham-1 and Kailali-2. 

UML General Secretary Ishwor Pokhrel has been recommended from Kathmandu-5. 

Party’s Vice General Secretary Bishnu Poudel has been recommended from Rupandehi-2, while Ghanshyam Bhusal has been pitched from Rupandehi-1 and 3.

UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai has been endorsed from Taplejung, while Pradeep Gyawali and Gokarna Bista have been pitched from Gulmi-1 and Gulmi-2 respectively. 

Prithvi Shubba Gurung has been endorsed for provincial as well as federal polls from Lamjung. Gurung is learnt to be willing to contest the provincial polls, however it hasn’t been finalized.

The UML Standing Committee member Subas Chandra Nemwang and Surendra Pandey have been recommended from Ilam-2 and Chitwan-1 respectively. Shanker Pokhrel has been recommended from Dang-2.

Key leaders like Amrit Kumar Bohora and Yuvraj Gyawali, however, have not been recommended for the parliamentary polls. Likewise, UML Secretary Bhim Acharya and Kiran Gurung have been recommended for the provincial elections.

The UML has spared seats in some of the constituencies for parties that will be contesting the in the provincial and federal polls under its symbol sun. 

As well as the Naya Shakti, five dissident leaders of the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal have announced that they would forge an electoral alliance with the UML and use sun as the election symbol. 

Other fringe and regional parties like the Nepal Pariwar Dal, the Prem Bahadur Singh-led Samajbadi Party and the Shaptari-based Mulbasi Mukti Party, among others, are likely to follow the suit. 

Taskforce misses out on Sunday deadline

KATHMANDU: A taskforce headed by UML General Secretary Ishwor Pokhrel, mandated to divide constituencies for the upcoming elections, has missed the deadline. 

A seven-member taskforce was formed after the UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Babu Ram Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Party-Nepal announced last week to forge an electoral alliance in the upcoming polls and unify the party post election. It was supposed to finalise its position on constituencies on Sunday. “We couldn’t complete the task within the designated time frame after the Maoist Centre failed to complete its internal preparations,” Pokhrel said.

Maoist Centre Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal told the Post that the party has sought additional one day due to the absence of top leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha. 

“We need to take calls on some of the issues. A meeting of the taskforce will complete the process of determining division of constituencies on Monday,” Bhusal said. (PR)