Fifteen Candidates, Including One Woman, Vie for Single Parliamentary Seat in Arghakhanchi

Arghakhanchi. Fifteen candidates, including one woman, are competing in the election for the sole constituency in Arghakhanchi district. Chief Election Officer Shivlal Pandey informed that 12 candidates from various parties and three independent candidates are in the electoral race for the House of Representatives.

The candidates from CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) in Arghakhanchi district are those who have remained in the district, working on organizational building and development projects.

Political parties have engaged in door-to-door canvassing and election-focused campaigns. They are visiting villages across the district to meet the public and seek victory for themselves and their party candidates. CPN-UML, which has historically won in this constituency, is aiming to maintain its dominance, while other parties are campaigning with the objective of delivering a message of change.

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and CPN are also claiming victory as they advance their election campaigns. The district, which previously had two constituencies, now has only one. In the elections of BS 2046 and 2051, Congress won both constituencies. In both instances, Revati Prasad Bhusal won in one and the late Dhundiraj Shastri won in the other.

In the year 2056 BS, following an alliance between CPN-UML and Rastriya Janamorcha, Dilram Acharya of Janamorcha won in one constituency, and Dilliraj Khanal of CPN-UML won in the other.

In BS 2064, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of the then Maoist won in Constituency No. 1, and Pushpa Bhusal won in Constituency No. 2. In 2070 BS, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of Maoist won in Constituency 1, and the late Duman Singh Thapa of CPN-UML won in Constituency 2. Subsequently, in the 2074 BS election, Arghakhanchi was established as having only one constituency.

In that election, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of the Maoist party won under the alliance of CPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML. In the BS 2079 election, CPN-UML candidate Top Bahadur Rayamajhi won by securing 42,675 votes. He defeated his closest competitor, Nepali Congress candidate Pushpa Bhusal (Gautam), by a margin of 1,730 votes. Bhusal received 40,945 votes.

Looking at the results of the BS 2079 election, CPN-UML in Arghakhanchi is more than 10,000 votes ahead of the Nepali Congress. In that election, CPN-UML secured the first position in the proportional representation category for the House of Representatives with 37,450 votes.

Nepali Congress stood in second place with 26,865 votes. Rastriya Swatantra Party came third with 8,951 votes, while CPN (Maoist Centre) was fourth with 7,342 votes. Rastriya Janamorcha received 5,327 votes, and CPN (Unified Socialist) received 1,067 votes.

In that election, CPN-UML competed alone, while Nepali Congress, Maoist Centre, Unified Socialist, and Rastriya Janamorcha formed an alliance. For the election scheduled for this coming Falgun 21 in the single constituency of Arghakhanchi, Bishnu Prasad Khanal is the candidate from Nepali Congress, and Pitambar Bhusal is the candidate from CPN-UML.

Similarly, Ram Bahadur Chauhan is the candidate from the Nepali Communist Party, Hari Prasad Bhusal from Rastriya Swatantra Party, Khimbahadur Gharti from CPN (Maoist), Jhabindra Phullel from Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Pashupati Dhakal from Rastriya Janamorcha, Puskarnath Acharya from Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party, and Ravi Shah is an independent candidate.

Furthermore, Surya Bahadur Gurung is the candidate from Mangal National Organization Party, Tukbahadur Chewali from Janata Samajbadi Party, Durgabahadur Bhat Chhetri from Aam Janata Party, Bishnu Bahadur Gaha from National Republic Nepal, while Pampa Shrestha and Himal Bhusal are independent candidates.

Buddhaprakash Poudel, Chief of the District Election Office Arghakhanchi, informed that there are a total of 171,652 voters in the district for the House of Representatives election, comprising 87,157 males and 84,495 females. Arghakhanchi district, which has one constituency, has 102 polling stations and 209 polling centers.