The merger between the Nepali Congress and the Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar-led Nepal Loktantrik Forum right before the elections to federal parliament and provincial assemblies had no impact on the NC’s performance in Morang district.

NC candidates lost the polls in constituencies 4 and 6, which were considered its strongholds. During the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013, the NC won both the constituencies when the NLF was an opponent.

It was expected that the NC candidates would be stronger for the December 7 vote after the party unification. However, NC central leaders Mahesh Acharya and Shekhar Koirala were defeated from constituencies 4 and 6, respectively, by the left alliance.

Analysts argue that the merger had minimal or no impact on the party’s performance as cadres on the ground were not united. “Two parties merged at the centre but activists could not bond emotionally on the ground. Cadres from both the groups engaged in election campaigns differently,” said Pitambar Dahal, a former district secretary of the NC. He believes that the separate campaigns sent wrong messages to voters. During the local level elections held in June earlier, the Congress and NLF cadres competed against each other. This spirit remained, said Dahal, even in the recent elections.

An NC source claimed that Gachhadar’s supporters who failed to get tickets to contest the elections and the disgruntled factions of the NC openly supported candidates of the left alliance in both the constituencies.

In constituency 6, party supporters dissatisfied with Koirala and Gachhadar openly ran a campaign to vote for NC candidate Chum Narayan Tabadar in the provincial assembly and left alliance’s Lal Babu Pandit in federal parliament. Both NC candidates Tabadar and Kedar Karki won provincial assembly seats while Koirala lost to Pandit by a margin of 675 votes.

Gachhadar defeated Koirala in Morang-6 in the first CA elections of 2008. But Koirala won in by-election immediately afterwards and the second CA polls held in 2013.

Reasons behind the NC’s defeat in Morang-4 are similar. NC active member Hari Bhattarai said party unification had been of no help. Acharya was defeated by left alliance candidate Amanlal Modi by 6,729 votes.