Former Janamat Party VP Deepak Sah Contests Sunsari-4 Seat on Rastriya Swatantra Party Ticket After Expulsion

Kathmandu. Janamat Party's founding Vice Chairman, E. Deepak Sah, was expelled from the party by Chairman Dr. CK Raut. Sah appealed to be reinstated, but the party took no action on it. Instead, Chairman Raut leveled various allegations against him. Now, Sah is contesting as a candidate in Sunsari-4. Sah is contesting on the ticket of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).

Sah claims he did not wish to leave the party, but Chairman Raut forced him out using various excuses. Surendranarayan Yadav, who was also disciplined along with Sah, had previously stated the reason for his expulsion: 'Raut gradually sidelined all top leaders in the party to make his elder brother a leader.'

After being expelled from Janamat, Sah initially formed the Janaswaraj Party, but after the Supreme Court invalidated it, he formed another party named Rastriya Janamat. However, Irfan Khan claimed that party, and he received it. Consequently, Sah formed the Sarvodaya Party. For an electoral alliance, Sah allied with the Ujyalo Party Nepal. The Ujyalo Party Nepal later merged with the RSP.

Although the Ujyalo Party later withdrew from that alliance, Deepak Sah remained with the RSP. He secured a ticket from there and is now in the electoral arena. In Sunsari-4, candidates from various parties are competing, including Gyanendra Bahadur Karki from Nepali Congress, Jagdish Prasad Kushiyat from CPN-UML, Mohammad Mahfuz Ansari from the Communist Party of Nepal, and Sabita Yadav from the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal. In 2079 BS, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki defeated Jagdish Prasad Kushiyat of UML by a narrow margin.

Gyanendra Bahadur Karki won by securing 30,483 votes, while Jagdish Kushiyat received 30,371 votes. Vidyananda Yadav of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party came third, and Jeevan Shrestha of the RSP came fourth in that constituency. In 2074 BS, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki also won with 32,347 votes, while Ramesh Shrestha of UML came second with 25,750 votes. At that time, RJP Nepal (now JSP Nepal) was in third place. Viewed this way, the constituency is a stronghold for Congress and UML. However, Sah is emerging as a competitor due to the public sentiment generated by the election being held after the 'Genji' movement.

Organizationally, Congress holds sway in all local municipalities in that area. Congress has won every municipality. Since the local level is in the hands of Congress, Sah sees a possibility of influencing voters. Surendranarayan Yadav, who returned to Saptari from Sah's constituency only on Thursday, says, 'Deepak Sah has the lead in the public sentiment; he is being discussed everywhere.'

Congress candidate Karki claims that due to the change within Congress itself, voter attraction has increased, and he is confident of winning with more votes than in the past. 'Corruption, good governance, and economic prosperity are the main agendas,' he says, 'Congress is committed to them.' He stated that the public has supported him for the past two terms and that he has received assurances of support this time as well.

RSP's Sah, on the other hand, states that the people favor change and that they have fought for change. Therefore, he claims the people of Sunsari-4 are on his side. 'The wave is in favor of change; they do not favor the old narratives. Calculations are only being made regarding by what margin the victory will be secured,' he said.

Local journalist Pawan Rauniyar also observes that the public appears to favor change based on the public sentiment. 'If Congress and UML had also fielded young and new candidates, this situation would not have arisen,' he says, 'It is understood that there is dissatisfaction among the public in some places because Congress has continued with the same old candidates.'