Lumjung Election Showdown: Veteran Leaders Face Off Amid Shifting Political Landscape

Pokhara. The focus of the House of Representatives election in Lamjung centers on Prithvi Subba Gurung and Gam Prasad Gurung. The CPN-UML has nominated central Vice-Chairman Prithvi Subba as a candidate for the ninth time, while Gam Prasad, who was defeated by the district chairman in the previous election, is competing for the first time from the Nepali Congress. Both hail from the Kwhonlasothar Rural Municipality.

Prithvi Subba, who has served multiple times as a minister and as the founding Chief Minister of the province, has development projects he previously initiated as his election agenda. He often tells voters, "Many children (projects) I gave birth to became orphans, many withered away," and "Some remained in the womb and never saw birth. I have come before you again to fulfill those incomplete dreams."

Gam Prasad also portrays himself as a proponent of development, but he is seeking votes with a commitment to greater policy reform. "Many policy problems have made our development ineffective. Money has come, but work is not being done on time. Those who do not work cannot be brought under the purview of action," he stated. "Having money alone is not enough. We must be clear on policy for proper implementation. We must bring fundamental policy reforms."

Having been involved in herbs and agriculture for a long time, he is campaigning with the agenda of making Lamjung a herb hub and connecting farmers' produce to the market.

Dharma KC of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which claims to be an alternative force, is watching the competition between the Gurung brothers from the same rural municipality. He is using the disillusionment voters show towards old parties and the agenda of good governance as his weapons. "New friends are frustrated. We have come to respectfully replace them and work, not just by criticizing the leadership," he said. "We must end poor governance, corruption, and irregularities. I have entered the election to bring change in the condition of the people." KC, from Sundarbazar, works in environmental engineering.

The main competition in Lamjung is certain to be among these three leaders. Furthermore, the CPN has also put forward a youth candidate. Harijung Tamang is the CPN candidate. He also advocates for leadership to transition to the younger generation.

The situation in Lamjung is different from before. The alliances that existed in past elections are absent this time. After 12 years, all parties are contesting the election independently. Without the shield of an alliance, this time will be a true test of each party's influence.

Traditionally, the influence of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML has been dominant in Lamjung. However, the wave generated after the Janji Andolan (People's Movement) is threatening to dismantle the old strongholds. Nevertheless, voters there suggest the competition will remain between the established parties.

In Lamjung, Prithvi Subba is struggling to preserve his own legacy, while the Congress's Gam Prasad aims to stop the continuity of his victory and enter parliament. RSP's Dharma KC is striving to break the stronghold of the old parties.

• What were the results of past elections?

From 2048 BS to 2056 BS, the Nepali Congress won all elections in Lamjung. In 2048 BS, defeating the United People's Front, Congress's Ramchandra Adhikari was elected in Constituency No. 1. He secured 16,678 votes, while the United People's Front's Dev Gurung received only 10,789 votes.

In Constituency No. 2, Congress's Ram Bahadur Gurung won the election with 19,922 votes. CPN-UML's Prithvi Subba Gurung received 12,861 votes.

In 2051 BS, the pair of Ramchandra and Ram Bahadur were victorious again. Ramchandra won in Constituency No. 1 with 13,223 votes, while CPN-UML's Keshavlal Shrestha received only 9,729 votes. In Constituency No. 2, Ram Bahadur Gurung won with 15,920 votes, while Prithvi Subba came second with 14,342 votes.

In the 2056 general election, Ram Bahadur Gurung contested in Constituency No. 1. He won with 16,605 votes, while CPN-UML's Mayanath Adhikari came second with 14,352 votes. In Constituency No. 2, Congress's Haribhakta Adhikari was victorious. He received 19,026 votes, while CPN-UML's Prithvi Subba was limited to 18,699 votes.

In 2064 BS, Maoist's Buddhiram Gurung won in Constituency No. 1, defeating Congress's Tulsi Narayan Shrestha. Buddhiram secured 21,044 votes, while Tulsi received 10,532 votes. Prithvi Subba secured his first victory from Constituency No. 2, receiving 19,583 votes, defeating Congress's Dil Bahadur Gharti.

In 2070 BS, CPN-UML's Jamindraman Ghale won from Constituency No. 1. Jamindra received 11,309 votes, while Congress's Dr. Takraj Gurung received 10,411 votes. In just 6 years, the Maoists shrunk from 21,000 votes to 6,000 votes. In Constituency No. 2, Nepali Congress's Chandra Bahadur Kunwar was victorious. He received 14,765 votes, while Prithvi Subba, who was in second place, received 14,093 votes. Maoist's Parasmani Poudel received 5,295 votes.

After that, in the 2074 election from Lamjung, which became a single constituency, Maoist's Dev Gurung won under the Leftist Alliance. He received 39,468 votes, while Congress's Dil Bahadur Gharti received 31,067 votes. In 2079 BS, Dev Gurung, allied with the Congress, lost to CPN-UML's Prithvi Subba. Prithvi Subba received 34,985 votes, while Dev received 31,791 votes.

For the upcoming election, Lamjung has 137,124 voters. The Election Office stated that there are 69,524 female voters and 67,600 male voters.

There are 3,400 more voters now than in the previous House of Representatives election. In the last election, Lamjung had 133,717 voters.