Former PM Baburam Bhattarai's Party Fails to Make Impact in Gorkha Stronghold

Pokhara. The influence area of former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Gorkha, did not see the expected results this time. The Progressive Democratic Party (Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party - PrloPa), for which he serves as the patron, did not field direct candidates in this district.

Initially, Bhattarai was set to contest from Constituency No. 2, and Gopal Babu Shrestha from Constituency No. 1. Bhattarai, who had hoped for support from other parties, withdrew his candidacy at the last moment. Following Bhattarai's withdrawal, Shrestha also backed down. Consequently, the party was left without direct candidates in Gorkha.

After this, PrloPa issued a directive to its leaders and cadres to support the Nepali Congress candidate in the direct elections. While many assessed that Bhattarai would have won had his candidacy remained, the party he is affiliated with proved quite weak in Gorkha.

Across the district, PrloPa barely managed to cross 1,000 votes in the proportional representation category, securing a total of 1,123 votes from both constituencies. The Shram Sanskriti Party received more votes than PrloPa, garnering 1,182 votes from Gorkha. PrloPa received almost similar votes from both constituencies in Gorkha: 541 votes from Constituency No. 1 and 582 votes from Constituency No. 2.

Shram Sanskriti received more votes in Constituency No. 2 than in No. 1. Shram Sanskriti received only 486 votes in Constituency No. 1 but secured 696 votes from Constituency No. 2.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged as the leading party in the proportional representation category from Gorkha as well. RSP received 58,552 votes, while the second-placed Nepali Congress managed only 24,516 votes. The CPN (Maoist Centre), considering it a base area, received 20,953 votes, and the CPN-UML secured 6,720 votes.