Rastriya Swatantra Party Snags Victory in Former Maoist Stronghold of Sindhuli-2

Sindhuli. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has secured a victory in Sindhuli Constituency No. 2, which was previously known as a stronghold of the former CPN (Maoist Centre). The constituency, where Maoist leaders like Haribol Gajurel and Chandra Prasad Gajurel had previously won, saw the Maoist party (now CPN) defeated this time around.

Chandra Prasad Gajurel of the Maoist Centre won the election in this constituency in 2064 BS, and Haribol Gajurel won in 2074 BS. In the recent election, Lekhnath Dahal 'Rajan', the CPN candidate, won from the same constituency in 2079 BS.

Sindhuli 2 parliamentary constituency comprises Hariharpurgadhi Rural Municipality, Marin Rural Municipality, Ghyanglek Rural Municipality, Sunkoshi Rural Municipality, and Wards 1-8 and 10-12 of Kamalamai Municipality. The former Maoist party (now CPN) is said to have a strong presence in the Hariharpur, Marin, Dhyangalek, and Sunkoshi areas. However, in the recently concluded election, the CPN candidate Dahal lost by a margin of 3,160 votes.

He was defeated by RSP's Ashish Gajurel, who secured 17,940 votes. His closest competitor, CPN's Dahal, received 14,780 votes.

Dahal is the outgoing Member of Parliament elected from the same constituency. Dahal, who was elected to the Bagmati Provincial Assembly from the same constituency in 2074 BS, was active in every front of the political struggle. Dahal, who started politics during his student life, joined the People's War at the age of 12 while in Grade 8.

During the People's War, Dahal was arrested by the then state authority in 2053 BS. He spent three years in jail and was released in Chaitra 2056 BS. After that, he remained active in party organization. He held responsibilities for the party in Ramechhap and Sindhuli, but former comrades became obstacles against him.

Maoist leader Maheshwor Dahal contested as an independent candidate in that constituency. Maoist leader Gajurel, Sindhuli In-charge Basanta Majhi, and others supported Maheshwor.