Nepali Congress Candidate Defeats Three-Time Winner Shakti Bahadur Basnet in Jajarkot

Surkhet. Shakti Bahadur Basnet's power has been 'checked' in Jajarkot. The fourth election proved difficult for Basnet, who had won three consecutive elections and served as a minister multiple times.

According to the final vote count completed on Saturday, Basnet, the candidate from the CPN (Maoist Centre), was defeated by Khadga Bahadur Buda of the Nepali Congress by a margin of 2,735 votes.

The elected Buda secured 20,0142 votes, while Basnet received 17,407 votes.

Similarly, Dambar Bahadur Singh of CPN-UML received 16,883 votes. Raghav Karki of Rastriya Swatantra Party received 2,471 votes.

The elected Congress leader Buda was defeated in the 074 election for the post of Shivalaya Rural Municipality Chairman. Nevertheless, he is a young leader known among the youth in the district. Emerging from student politics, he currently serves as the District Vice-President and Acting President of the party.

Buda is a resident of the western region, while almost all other candidates were from eastern Jajarkot.

Since the year 056, the western region had not received a candidate from Jajarkot, which is why he received sympathy votes.

On the other hand, questions were constantly being raised about Shakti Basnet within Jajarkot, from the general public to other parties and even within the then Maoist party itself.

In this election, leaders and cadres within the Maoist (now CPN) had advised Basnet not to contest the election. He initially stated he would not contest.

However, when Prachanda handed the ticket to Basnet at the last moment, it not only caused a dispute within the CPN in Jajarkot, but Ganesh Prasad Singh, the former minister and district in-charge of the erstwhile Maoist party, even quit the party.

Singh wanted to contest the election this time. In the end, he left the party alleging betrayal by Basnet and Prachanda, which directly benefited Congress's Buda.

With Basnet's defeat, the CPN's stronghold in Jajarkot, considered one of the Maoist strongholds, has crumbled. The Maoists had an absolute dominance here for 18 years.

Until the 2070 election, Jajarkot had two constituencies for the House of Representatives. In the elections from 2048 to 2056, there was a contest between UML and Congress. Jajarkot struggled significantly during the Maoist insurgency.

The Maoists, emerging from the heat of the war, established their dominance after the 60s decade.

In 064, Kal Bahadur Malla of the Maoist won from Constituency No. 1, and Bhakta Bahadur Shah won from Constituency No. 2.

In 070, Shakti Basnet of the Maoist won from Constituency No. 1. In Constituency No. 2, Rajeev Vikram Shah of Congress was victorious. This was the election Congress won after the 60s decade, and UML has not been able to win an election here yet.

Before contesting the parliamentary election, Basnet had already become the Health Minister at the center. He became the Home Minister during KP Oli's first term as Prime Minister without being a sitting Member of Parliament.

Basnet won both the 074 and 2079 elections for the Maoist. In 2079, Basnet was elected by securing 34,151 votes, while Niraj Acharya of CPN-UML received 25,120 votes.

In 074, he received support from UML, and in 2079, support from Congress, and became the Minister for Forest and Environment when KP Oli was Prime Minister for the second time.

He became the Minister for Energy and Water Resources in Prachanda-led government in 2079, and he has consistently faced allegations of failing to deliver development work in the district.

Shakti Basnet is a leader who remains close to power through Prachanda's blessings despite achieving little in the district. Similarly, his wife, Satya Pahadi, also served as the Minister for Peace and Reconstruction.

However, the party continuously weakened in the district. Despite Shakti remaining in power, there was widespread criticism within the party that the district's prosperity did not improve. Not only within the party, but the general public and leaders/cadres of other parties also constantly commented publicly that despite being close to power, Basnet failed to deliver qualitative work in the development and prosperity of Jajarkot.

Although Basnet was the Energy Minister for a long time, only 26 percent of Jajarkot has been electrified so far. Furthermore, there is a complaint against him for not taking initiative in the reconstruction of the district, which was affected by the Jajarkot earthquake in Kartik 2080.

"If he had done good work for the prosperity of Jajarkot, the public mandate would have increased," says a Maoist leader. "The statistics show that our public mandate has been decreasing in every election."

Although Basnet won the direct vote in the 2079 House of Representatives election, looking at the proportional votes, the Maoist position was third. Congress received the highest proportional votes with 22,934, while UML received 19,749, and the Maoist received 14,412 votes. Indeed, Shakti has become powerless in this election.