National
Bhandari, Shahi elected speakers of Province 1, 6
CPN-UML leaders Pradeep Kumar Bhandari and Raj Bahadur Shahi have been elected speakers of Province 1 and 6 respectively. They were elected unopposed as no other candidates filed nomination for the post on Sunday.CPN-UML leaders Pradeep Kumar Bhandari and Raj Bahadur Shahi have been elected speakers of Province 1 and 6 respectively. They were elected unopposed as no other candidates filed nomination for the post on Sunday.
On Saturday, Sanu Kumar Shrestha and Arjun Bahadur Thapa, both UML candidates, were elected speakers in Province 3 and 7 respectively.
In Biratnagar, the temporary capital of Province 1, Bhandari was declared elected after no other contender filed candidacy for the post on Sunday as scheduled by the Provincial Assembly (PA). The PA meeting on Monday will formally announce his victory.
Bhandari, 63, of Dharan was elected to the PA from Sunsari Constituency-1 (A). He is a retired science teacher who taught for around 37 years. Bhandari is member of UML secretariat in Sunsari and in-charge of Dharan Sub-metropolis.
The UML Parliamentary Party meeting held on Sunday had unanimously endorsed Bhandari’s name for the speaker. UML provincial in-charge Bhim Acharya said that party picked Bhandari although there were other aspirants as well.
Similarly in Surkhet, Raj Bahadur Shahi, an elected lawmaker from Dailekh 2 ‘B’ was elected unopposed as the speaker of Provincial Assembly in Province 6.
The UML Parliamentary Party had unanimously named Shahi for the post. He was elected unopposed as no rival candidate registered.
UML lawmaker Prakash Jwala proposed Shahi’s nomination while CPN (Maoist Centre) PP leader Mahendra Bahadur Shahi seconded the proposal.
Similarly, Radhika Tamang has elected as the deputy speaker in Province 3. Tamang of the Maoist Centre was elected to the PA from Nuwakot-1 (A). She was elected unopposed as no other candidate contested against her for the post.