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Maoist-S challenge to Congress-UML in Bajhang
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The parties have intensified campaigning in the by-election of Bajhang state parliamentarians, which can make a difference in the arithmetic of forming the Far West government. The main parties have intensified the campaigning of their candidates by appointing central leaders.
Bye-election of Bajhang 1 (1) Provincial Assembly is being held on this Baisakh 15. The by-election is about to be held after Prithvi Bahadur Singh, a member of the state assembly elected from the Congress, died in a road accident last June. Congress has nominated Singh's son Abhishek Bahadur. Congress leaders including ex-minister NP Saud, central member Ran Bahadur Rawal are busy going door-to-door and meeting to win him over. Leader Rawal claims that there is a popular wave in favor of the Congress because it is a young candidate.
The UML, which has held sway in this constituency for a long time, was defeated by the Left-Democratic Alliance in the 2079 elections. UML is betting to avenge that defeat by electing district president Daman Bhandari. Now UML standing committee member and former minister Karna Bahadur Thapa, Politburo member and former chief minister of Far West Rajendra Rawal, provincial president Krishna Prasad Jaisi and other leaders have reached Bajhang. The question of the arithmetic of the State Assembly is being asked. We are confident of winning as this region has been under UML's control since the beginning," said UML central member Afilal Okheda.
Congress, UML, which are considered to be the main competitors, are worried that Maoists and United Socialists will lose their votes. Dil Bahadur Singh is a candidate from Samajwadi Party. Singh, who led the UML in the district before the party split, is expected to get more votes from the UML. Samajwadi's Sudurpaschim Province member Sonu Singh claimed that Congress candidate Abhishek Singh is from the ward and since he has a good grip there, Singh will get votes from Congress supporters as well.
Voters in Maoist center are casting their votes in this region after 10 years. The Maoists, who submitted their candidacy in the Constituent Assembly elections of 2070, had not nominated a candidate in this constituency since then. Voters of Maoist voted for UML in 2074 and Congress in 2078 due to alliance. Maoist candidate Janak Budha claimed that he is close to Bajhangi people. He has experience working as a member of the Constituent Assembly and working in the Prime Minister's team. In this sense, I am the strongest candidate," he said.
UML and Maoist candidates are also from the same constituency, so there is a possibility that votes may be divided. Both UML's Bhandari and Maoist's Budha are residents of Chhabispathivera Rural Municipality. Leaders and workers of Congress and UML have been publicly saying that there was interference from their own party in the 2079 election. Both parties have doubts that this may happen in this election as well.
In the last election, the Congress, Maoist and United Socialist Alliance contested the election here. Singh, who was a candidate on behalf of the alliance, won by getting 17,112 votes, while his closest competitor, Afilal Okheda of UML, got 13,376 votes. In the elections after 2048, three Congress candidates and four UML candidates won in this region.
Lal Bahadur Bohra, Assistant Professor of Jai Prithvi Multipurpose Campus, said that it is not easy to assess the election results because the past coalition has broken down. "Based on the first election, it seems that the main competition will be between Congress and UML," he said.
प्रकाशित : वैशाख ५, २०८१ ०८:१८
