Left-Wing Parties Face Setback in Federal Parliament Vote Count as New Party Gains Ground

Kathmandu. Left-wing parties have suffered a major blow in the House of Representatives elections held on Thursday. As of 3 PM Saturday, with 162 constituencies counted, the new party Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has won 42 seats and maintains a lead in 77 others. The tsunami-like wave in favor of RSP, formed just three years ago, has pushed the established left-wing parties, CPN-UML and CPN (Unified Socialist), into their most serious crisis ever.

CPN-UML has won 2 seats and is leading in 8 others. Meanwhile, the CPN (Unified Socialist), formed by the merger of 26 left-wing components, has won 2 seats and is leading in 6. The Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and Rastriya Janamorcha, which have consistently been present in parliament since 2048 BS, failed to win a single seat. The Biplav-led CPN (Maoist), contesting elections after 12 years, is not in a position to win even one seat so far.

So far, only CPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has been declared victorious. Prachanda won from Rukum East. Co-chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal is not even close to his competitors. Six office bearers from the former CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) contested the elections. Two candidates from the former Nepal Socialist Party and one from the Matribhumi Jagaran Abhiyan are in the electoral contest.

What is the status of each leader?

Prachanda, who has served as Prime Minister three times, has been continuously winning parliamentary elections since 2064 BS. Considering the difficult circumstances following the Janajeevan movement, he contested from a Maoist stronghold this time and won by securing 10,240 votes. His closest competitor, Leelamani Gautam of CPN-UML, received 3,462 votes.

Senior Vice Chairman of the former CPN (Maoist Centre), Narayan Kaji Shrestha, appears set to lose for the third time. He was defeated in the 2070 BS Constituent Assembly election from Makwanpur-2 and in 2074 BS from Gorkha-2. This time, contesting from Sarlahi-3, he is in second place with 9,614 votes. Narendra Sah Kalwar of RSP is in the lead with 27,358 votes.

CPN leader Shakti Bahadur Basnet has been defeated in Jajarkot-1. Basnet, who had been continuously winning since 2064 BS, faced defeat for the first time. Khadga Bahadur Buda of the Nepali Congress won with 20,142 votes, while Basnet secured 16,883 votes. He was the Deputy Secretary-General of the former CPN (Maoist Centre).

Another leader, Girirajmani Pokharel, was defeated in Mahottari-1. This is Pokharel's second defeat. Pramod Kumar Mahato of RSP won with 34,636 votes, while Pokharel received only 12,624 votes. Before the party unification, Pokharel was the Deputy Secretary-General of CPN (Maoist Centre).

While former office bearers of the CPN (Maoist Centre) faced major setbacks, Barsaman Pun of the former CPN (Maoist Centre) appears headed for victory. Contesting from Rolpa-1, he maintains a lead with 21,074 votes. Poonam Kumari Wali of the Nepali Congress received 9,698 votes. Pun has been winning from Rolpa continuously since 2070 BS.

Another Deputy Secretary-General of the former CPN (Maoist Centre), Matrika Prasad Yadav, is trailing by a narrow margin in Dhanusha-1. The counting process in this constituency has not advanced much. According to preliminary results, Ramchandra Mandal of CPN-UML leads by 611 votes. Yadav is following closely with 509 votes.

Former Prime Minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) Co-Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal has suffered a major shock. Contesting from Rautahat-1, he is in fourth place with 7,669 votes. Rajesh Kumar Chaudhary of RSP is leading with 28,946 votes. Ajay Kumar Gupta of CPN-UML is in second place with 10,693 votes, and Anil Kumar Jha of the Nepali Congress is in third with 8,574 votes.

Rajendra Prasad Pandey, Senior Vice Chairman of CPN (Unified Socialist), is in second place with 11,304 votes. He was surpassed by Ashika Tamang of RSP, who leads with 24,048 votes in Dhading-1. Pandey had won every election since 2064 BS, except for that year.

Ramkumar Bhattarai, contesting from Rautahat-4, is in third place with 8,835 votes. Ganesh Poudel of RSP is in the lead with 28,781 votes. Devprasad Timilsina of the Nepali Congress secured the second position with 13,255 votes. Bhattarai was the Deputy Secretary-General of the former CPN (Unified Socialist).

Metmani Chaudhary, contesting from Dang-1, is in fourth place with 3,478 votes. In this constituency, Devraj Pathak of RSP is leading with 27,271 votes. Yogendra Chaudhary of the Nepali Congress is second with 10,532 votes, and Revatiraman Sharma Ghimire of CPN-UML is third with 4,489 votes. Baldev Chaudhary, Secretary of the former CPN (Unified Socialist), is in fifth place with 3,093 votes. In this constituency, Parasmani Gelal of RSP is leading with 11,572 votes.

Som Prasad Pandey, the CPN candidate from Palpa-2, is in fourth place with 3,430 votes. Madhav Bahadur Thapa is leading in this constituency with 10,944 votes. Himal Dutt Shrestha secured the second position with 5,507 votes. Thakur Prasad Gaire of CPN-UML is in third place with 5,215 votes.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN candidate from Achham-1, Dr. Bhim Bahadur Rawal, has been defeated. Bharat Kumar Swar of the Nepali Congress won with 10,759 votes, while Rawal received 10,233 votes. Rawal, who was active in CPN-UML for 51 years, formed the Matribhumi Jagaran Abhiyan after being expelled.

Meanwhile, Mahindra Ray Yadav, Chairman of the Nepal Socialist Party, is in second place with a wide margin of 30,000 votes behind. Rabin Mahato of RSP leads with 38,325 votes, while Yadav received 8,071 votes. Ramesh Prasad Yadav, General Secretary of the NSP, is in sixth place with 485 votes. Chandan Kumar Singh of RSP is in the lead with 17,547 votes.