Jhapa-2 Constituency Becomes National Political Focus with 18 Candidates Contesting Upcoming Election

Jhapa. The upcoming House of Representatives election on Falgun 21 has made Jhapa Constituency No. 2 a center of national political interest. Eighteen candidates are vying for the seat in this constituency this time. The area has become a topic of discussion in national politics this time as the previous election saw a Speaker and Deputy Speaker emerge from the same constituency.

This election is considered significant as leaders from major parties and former officeholders are among the candidates. Devraj Ghimire, a leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Speaker of the dissolved House of Representatives, won the 2079 election by securing 28,716 votes. He remains a key competitor in this constituency where UML has a strong organizational base.

Indira Rana Magar, a leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former Deputy Speaker, is in the electoral arena aiming to enter parliament through direct election. In the previous election, she entered parliament through RSP's proportional representation and became the Deputy Speaker.

Rana Magar, who entered politics from social activism, is seen as representing an alternative political stream with her candidacy. Bhadra Prasad Nepal (Swagat), who secured the second position as an independent candidate in the previous election, is contesting this time as a candidate for the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. He had received 26,455 votes in the 2079 election.

Nepali Congress leader and former Minister Sarita Prasai and CPN leader and former Minister Dharmashila Chapagain are also in the competition. Since the party alliance present in the previous election is absent this time, there is a possibility of vote division.

Jhapa-2, which encompasses Birtamod and Arjunhara municipalities, two wards of Kankai Municipality, and four wards of Buddhashanti Rural Municipality, has a total of 147,522 voters. Among them, 13,431 are new voters.

According to the District Election Office, the 18 candidates contesting the election include Akkal Bahadur Tamang, Amrita Lawati, Arjun Kumar Pandey, Indira Rana Magar, Keshav Kumar Bhandari, Chandrakumari Garu, Chudakarna Bega, Til Bahadur Rai, Devraj Ghimire, Dharmashila Chapagain, Punyaprashad Acharya, Bhadra Prasad Nepal, Man Bahadur Pulamimagar, Dr. Yubaraj Sangraula, Ramesh Kumar Karki, Ramesh Kumar Rajbanshi, Shree Prasad Sitaula, and Sarita Prasai.