Dang, Jan 9: A complaint has been filed against the candidacy of Basudev Ghimire Jangali, who is contesting the National Assembly (NA) election from Lumbini Province scheduled for January 25, 2026.

The complaint seeks cancellation of Ghimire’s candidacy, claiming that he is not a person with a disability despite filing his nomination under the disability cluster on behalf of the Congress–UML alliance.

According to Gehendra Kanwar, the information officer at the provincial election office, the complaint was filed by Sarjan BK, a candidate from the Nepal Communist Party contesting under the disability cluster.

Kanwar said the process of inquiry and action has already begun, and the final decision will be made public when the final list of candidates is released.

Ghimire, a disability cluster candidate, holds a category “Gha” disability identity card and claims to have an eye-related condition. The election office said it would decide after reviewing evidence in line with legal procedures.

For the January 25 election in Lumbini Province, eight candidates had filed nominations for three vacant National Assembly seats under the women, disability, and other clusters. Of them, three are from the Congress–UML alliance, three from the Nepal Communist Party, and two from the Rastriya Janamorcha.

From the Congress–UML alliance, UML’s Ramkumari Jhakri is contesting under the women cluster, Nepali Congress’s Basudev Ghimire Jangali under the disability cluster, and Nepali Congress’s Chandra KC under the other cluster.

Similarly, the Nepal Communist Party has fielded Sarjan BK under the disability cluster, Brihaspati Adhikari under the other cluster, and Durga Bhandari under the women cluster.

Rastriya Janamorcha has nominated Bombahadur Khatri of Pyuthan under the other cluster, and Padma Pandit of Pyuthan under the women’s cluster.

The total vote weight in the province stands at 8,753. Of this, the Nepali Congress holds a vote weight of 3,179, the UML 2,810, and the Maoist–Unified Socialist alliance 2,686, according to the election office.

People’s News Monitoring Service