Fourteen Women Elected to House of Representatives in Direct Elections; Rastriya Swatantra Party Dominates Wins

Kathmandu. Fourteen women have been elected under the direct category in the House of Representatives elections held on Falgun 21. Among those elected directly, 13 candidates are from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and one is from the Nepali Congress.

The RSP members elected directly include Indira Rana Magar from Jhapa-1, Sobita Gautam from Chitwan-3, Rubina Acharya from Morang-6, Nisha Dangi from Jhapa-1, Nitima Bhandari from Sarlahi-1, Dr. Tosima Karki from Lalitpur-3, Ashika Tamang from Dhading-1, Pushpakumari Chaudhary from Saptari-1, Bina Gurung from Kaski-3, Asha Jha from Morang-5, Gauri Kumari from Mahottari-4, Komal Gyawali from Kailali-1, and Ranjana Neupane from Kathmandu-1.

Basana Thapa, a candidate from the Nepali Congress, won the direct election from Dailekh-1.

Neupane from Kathmandu-1 won with 15,455 votes. Neupane defeated the Nepali Congress candidate, Prabal Thapa Chhetri, by a significant margin.

Gautam won from Chitwan-3 with 59,277 votes, defeating the former Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City and CPN candidate, Renu Dahal, by a large margin. She was elected to the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-2 in the 2079 elections.

Dr. Tosima Karki won from Lalitpur-3 with 43,096 votes, defeating Nepali Congress's Jitendra Kumar Shrestha by a wide margin. She was also elected as a member of the House of Representatives from the same constituency in 2079.

Rubina Acharya won from Morang-6 with 55,513 votes, while her competitor, Nepali Congress candidate Dr. Shekhar Koirala, only managed to secure 12,850 votes.

Bina Gurung defeated Nepali Congress candidate Manoj Gurung from Kaski-3.

Komal Gyawali was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kailali-1, securing 17,862 votes.

Asha Jha was elected from Morang-5 with 30,434 votes. In Sarlahi-1, Nitima Bhandari Karki won with 44,181 votes. Her competitor, Congress candidate Shambhulal Shrestha, received 7,871 votes.

Nisha Dangi won from Jhapa-1 with 45,680 votes, while competitor Congress candidate Keshavraj Pandey received 10,550 votes. Dangi was a member of the House of Representatives from RSP through the proportional representation system in the 2079 elections.

Indira Magar was elected from Jhapa-2 with 60,110 votes. Her closest rival, former Speaker Devraj Ghimire, received only 11,338 votes. Magar was a member of the House of Representatives for RSP through proportional representation in 2079 and served as Deputy Speaker.

Ashika Tamang was elected from Dhading-1, securing 39,128 votes. Her closest rival, UML candidate Bhumiprasad Tripathi, received 15,032 votes.

Pushpakumari Chaudhary was elected from Saptari-1 with 38,195 votes, while her closest competitor from the Swabhiman Party, Sumit Kumar, received 7,847 votes.

Gauri Kumari won from Mahottari-4 with 30,132 votes, while competitor Surendra Kumar Yadav of the Janata Samajbadi Party received 8,742 votes.

Out of the 16 women RSP fielded as candidates for the House of Representatives, 13 won. Binita Kathayat, who contested from Jumla, Goma Tamang, who contested from Sunsari-1, and Tashi Lhamo, who contested from Humla, were defeated.

Basana Thapa, a candidate from Nepali Congress in Dailekh-1, was elected with 12,372 votes, while the closest rival UML candidate Rabindra Raj Sharma received 11,796 votes.