Parties Claim Victory in Gandaki Province Ahead of Upcoming By-elections

Pokhara. Competitions are set to take place for 18 seats in Gandaki province for the House of Representatives election on Falgun 21. Parties that previously contested in an alliance are now in the field individually.

Therefore, it is impossible to definitively say whose lap the results will fall into. In this situation, parties are claiming how many seats their respective parties will win.

RSP has claimed victory in 12 seats, Congress in 10 seats, UML in 8 seats, and CPN in 5 seats. Janamorcha has also claimed victory in Baglung-1.

RSP's General Secretary for Gandaki, Navin Tripathi, stated that the party estimates winning 9 to 12 seats from Gandaki this time. He claimed that RSP candidates will be victorious in Nawalpur-1, both Gorkha constituencies, all three Kaski constituencies, Syangja Constituency Number 1, and both Tanahun constituencies.

Similarly, RSP also claims to be able to win in Syangja-2, Nawalpur-2, and Baglung. 'We are still confident that we will win 12 seats. We will easily win 9 seats, and we will have to work a bit harder for the rest,' he said, 'Our colleagues are working accordingly. Door-to-door campaigning has made us enthusiastic.'

However, most of the constituencies claimed by RSP are also being claimed by other parties. CPN claims victory in both Gorkha constituencies. CPN has also included Baglung-2 in its list of expected wins. In the 2079 election, Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' won from Gorkha-2 and Devendra Paudel from Baglung-2.

A CPN provincial leader stated that CPN has a strong influence in districts including Kaski 1 and 2, Lamjung, Parbat, and Mustang. In 2079, Congress won the most seats with 9. UML won 5, Maoist won 2, and Janamorcha won 1 seat.

Janamorcha has formed an alliance with CPN in Baglung this time. It has been announced that CPN will support the Janamorcha candidate in Constituency No.-1 and Janamorcha will support the CPN candidate in Constituency No.-2. Therefore, they claim that the alliance will win both seats in Baglung.

In Parbat, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML both have claims. It is estimated that the competition will be between these two parties. Arjun Joshi, who won three consecutive times but was defeated in the last two elections, is now seeking a win. Padam Giri of UML, who won the previous two elections, is preparing for a hat-trick. CPN's Manahari Timilsina is also striving to win the election from a third front amidst the competition between Congress and UML.

Congress claims to win at least one seat each in Parbat, Mustang, Manang, one Gorkha constituency, both Kaski constituencies, Lamjung, at least one Syangja constituency, both Tanahun constituencies, and at least one Baglung constituency. 'Constituencies are not finalized yet. But Congress will win at least 10 seats,' claimed Provincial General Secretary Bishnu Prasad Lamichhane, 'We have encouraging reports from colleagues in the districts. We will finalize the final report in a day or two.'

UML claims to repeat its previous wins in three Kaski seats, Parbat, and Lamjung this time as well. A UML leader stated that they aim to win at least 8 seats this time.

UML claims victories in at least 2 Kaski constituencies, one Baglung constituency, Lamjung, Myagdi, Tanahun-2, Parbat, Mustang, Syangja-1, and Nawalpur.

UML has placed both Gorkha constituencies on the yellow list. 'Colleagues from the district are reporting that they will win the elections. There is no fixed number right now. But we will win more seats than before,' said Provincial Secretary Dhanañjaya Dawadi, 'Activities have increased since the nominations. Reports are coming in positively.' Interestingly, although the election is being held for 18 seats, the total number of seats claimed by the parties reaches 36.