Kathmandu, Jan 20: Newly elected president of the Nepali Congress, Gagan Kumar Thapa, has shifted from his long-held constituency Kathmandu 4 to the Madhesh region. He will contest the upcoming House of Representatives election from Sarlahi 4 under the first-past-the-post system.
In Sarlahi 4, Congress president Thapa will face senior and experienced Congress leader Dr Amaresh Kumar Singh. In the 2022 House of Representatives election, Singh had contested as an independent after failing to secure a Congress ticket.
On Monday, Singh joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party, a new political force that emerged in the last election. From Sarlahi 4, the CPN UML has fielded Ravi Singh Kushwaha, while the Nepal Communist Party has nominated Dr Ragnis Rai Yadav.
Even during the previous election, there was wide discussion about then Congress general secretary Thapa contesting from Sarlahi 4. After being denied a Congress ticket, Singh had accused Thapa of blocking his candidacy.
Singh, who ran as an independent after not receiving a Congress ticket, won the House seat with 20,017 votes. His closest rival, Congress candidate Nagendra Kumar, secured 18,253 votes with backing from the then CPN Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist.
Another independent candidate from Sarlahi 4, Madhumala Kumari Yadav, finished third with 14,622 votes. Rajesh Kumar Mishra of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal came fourth with 5,813 votes.
Dhiraj Thakur, the candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the party Singh has now joined, finished ninth with 318 votes.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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