CPN-UML's Laxmi Prasad Pokharel Wins Dailekh-2 Seat, Avenging Previous Defeat

Surkhet. CPN-UML's Laxmi Prasad Pokharel has won the election in Dailekh Constituency No. 2 this time. He defeated his closest rival, Dikpal Kumar Shahi of the Nepali Congress, by a margin of 4,337 votes to secure the victory.

It is worth remembering that in the 2079 House of Representatives election, Congress's Dikpal had defeated UML's Laxmi by a margin of 167 votes.
Congress had won an election in this constituency in 2079 after winning in 2056 BS.

UML had won the election here from 2064 to 2074 BS. Raj Bahadur Budha won in 2064 and 2074 BS, and Laxmi himself won in 2070 BS. However, he was defeated by Dikpal in 2079. Laxmi has taken revenge against Dikpal in this election for that loss.

According to the counting completed on Saturday, Laxmi received 13,889 votes, while Congress's Dikpal received 9,552 votes. Similarly, Bhakta Bahadur Shahi of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) received 6,797 votes, and Yogendra Bahadur Shahi of the Communist Party of Nepal received 3,851 votes.

This constituency is organizationally a stronghold for CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress. The Maoists have not won any election here so far. Although the Maoists, who waged an armed conflict, have become strong in other districts of Karnali after coming to the peace process, they have not been able to expand in Dailekh.

Sole UML MP in Karnali Based on Current Results

Karnali, which has 10 districts, has 12 House of Representatives constituencies. Out of the results of 7 constituencies announced so far, UML has only won in Dailekh-2. In this sense, Laxmi has become the sole MP for UML in Karnali. UML was defeated in Dailekh-1 and two constituencies in Surkhet, where a UML victory was anticipated, while Gulabjung Shah is in fourth place in Salyan, where the result is yet to come.

UML does not appear to have any chance of winning in Rukum West, Humla, and Dolpa anytime soon.

Vote counting started very late in Mugu. Pokharel is considered a leader with a decent and honest image in Dailekh. Emerging from student politics since 2035 BS, he became the headman (Pradhanpanch) of Chhiudipusakot VDC in 2043 BS. He joined UML around 2051 BS and became CPN-ML after the party split. He contested the House of Representatives election from CPN-ML in 2056 BS, securing fourth place with 2,712 votes, before later returning to UML.