A former lawmaker and the Nuwakot-2 candidate of the Prakash Chandra Lohani-led Ekikrit Rastriya Prajatantra Party Rastrabadi has withdrawn her candidacy and joined the Nepali Congress. 

Rajyalaxmi Pandey Shrestha withdrew her candidacy before defecting to the NC on Wednesday. She announced at a press meet that she was going to support the NC candidate and former minister, Arjun Narshingh KC, in the upcoming elections. 

Shrestha added that she was hopeful the NC would offer her a respectful position in the party in the future.

Meanwhile, ERPP-R has said that Shrestha was expelled from the party. Shrestha was elected the lawmaker under the Proportional Representation category in the second Constituent Assembly elections from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal. She had later joined the Lohani faction. 

NC district leader quits party

Man Bahadur Rawal, the former district president of NC, Bajura, has quit the party following a row over election ticket. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Rawal announced his decision to leave the party. 

He claimed that the party did a disservice to him by not offering him the election ticket. He had  hoped to become the NC candidate for the provincial elections.