Most Koshi Province Leaders Who Resigned to Contest Federal Elections Face Defeat, Except One

Biratnagar. Except for Harka Raj Rai, one provincial assembly member and municipal chiefs from Koshi Province who resigned mid-term to contest for federal parliament seats have been defeated in the House of Representatives elections.

Harka Raj Rai emerged victorious in Sunsari-1. He was the chief of Dharan Metropolitan City. He resigned from that post to contest for the federal parliament.

In the final vote count of the election held on Falgun 21, he won by securing 35,741 votes. His closest competitor, Goma Tamang of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), received 27,249 votes. In third place was Tikaram Limbu of CPN-UML, who garnered 6,463 votes. Surya Bahadur Bhattarai, who resigned from the post of Ward Chairman and contested on a CPN ticket, received only 6,185 votes.

Bhakti Prasad Sitaula of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), who left his Koshi Province Assembly seat to contest from Jhapa 4, suffered a humiliating defeat. He failed to secure his deposit. Sitaula came in fifth with 2,080 votes, while the winner, Shambhu Prasad Dhakal of the RSP, secured 43,631 votes.

Similarly, Dilipkumar Agrawal, the chief of Morang's Rangeli, who left his municipality to contest for parliament, along with Ranabahadur Rai, the chief of Ilam's Suryodaya Municipality, Asim Rai, the chairman of Solukhumbu's Thulung Dudhkoshi, Major Rai, the chairman of Udaipur's Limchibung, and Asmita Thapa, the vice-chairperson of Okhaldhunga's Likhu Pike Rural Municipality, were all defeated. Furthermore, Surya Bahadur Bhattarai (Manoj), who resigned as the Ward Chairman of Dharan-17 to contest for federal parliament, was also defeated.

Rangeli Chief Agrawal contested as the CPN-UML candidate from Morang Constituency No. 2. Agrawal finished second with 15,624 votes. The winning RSP candidate, Krishna Kumar Karki, secured 40,924 votes.

In Ilam Constituency No. 1, Ranabahadur Rai, the candidate from the Communist Party of Nepal, finished in fifth place. CPN-UML candidate Kajiman Kagate is leading there. The Shram Sanskriti Party is in second place. It does not appear that Ranabahadur Rai can secure a win by the time the final results are out.

Similarly, Asim Rai, the candidate from the Communist Party of Nepal from Solukhumbu, managed to secure the second position. Prakash Singh Karki of the Nepali Congress won there with 13,166 votes, while Rai only managed 9,414 votes.

Furthermore, Major Rai, who contested as an independent candidate from Udaipur-2 after leaving his municipality, failed to secure his deposit. He finished in 11th place with a total of only 90 votes. Surya Bahadur Tamang of the RSP won from that constituency with 14,002 votes.

Similarly, Asmita Thapa, the CPN-UML candidate from Okhaldhunga, finished in fourth place but could not secure the win. Bishwaraj Pokharel of the RSP won in that constituency with 13,953 votes. Meanwhile, Ward Chairman Bhattarai from Dharan-17 was nominated by the CPN from Sunsari-1. Bhattarai finished in third place, securing only 6,185 votes.