By Our Reporter
The National Assembly election of January 25 has created a sort of suspicion among the ruling parties after one of their candidates lost the election in Koshi Province.
The Ruling parties had fielded 19 candidates, but only 18 of them won the election held on Thursday last week.
After Champa Devi Karki of the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) lost the election to the UML candidate Rukmani Koirala in Koshi, the Maoist leaders accused the Nepali Congress of betraying them and inviting friction among the ruling parties.
When Krishna Sitaula of the Nepali Congress was elected from Koshi to the NA as a candidate of the ruling parties, Karki of the (Maoist Centre) lost the election, and the Maoist leaders smelt a rat.
The leaders of the ruling parties called a meeting on Tuesday evening at the Baluwatar residence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to discuss the Koshi defeat. In the meeting that lasted for hours, the leaders concluded that the NA election result in Koshi was unexpected and accidental. However, the meeting concluded, as reported by some media, that the Koshi defeat would not affect the present coalition.
According to the Election Commission, Sitaula won the election with 5,292 votes while his rival Uddhav Paudel of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party got 4,562 votes. Similarly, UML’s Koirala was elected garnering 5,086 votes while Karki got only 4,992 votes.
Even in 2021 poll, UML candidate Sonam Gyaljen Sherpa was elected to the NA from Koshi by defeating Hem Raj Rai of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSPN), the common candidate of the present ruling alliance.
This time, Sitaula was suspected of suffering a similar defeat. But he won and Maoist’s Karki lost.
Reports state that Indian intelligence RAW influenced the UML ensuring Sitaula’s victory. UML chair K.P. Sharma Oli took this RAW request as an opportunity to improve his relations with India, which was bad.
Earlier, on the issue of the defeat of the Maoist candidate, Maoist leaders like Barsha Man Pun said that they would seek concrete answers from the NC for the defeat of their candidate in Koshi. Kakri lost because of cross-voting. Even Sitaula failed to get votes from all provincial assembly members of his party. It was reported that two members of Koshi Provincial Assembly did not vote for him.
Again, it is also suspected that the NC top leaders might have played a game not to make the UML nil in the election. With the win in one seat, the UML has now 10 seats in the 59-member Upper House and became the third largest party losing the position of the first party. Surprisingly, the Maoist Centre has become the largest party in the NA with 17 seats and NC the second largest with 16 seats.
Now with Sitaula’s election to the NA, he is likely to become the Chairman in place of Ganesh Prasad Timilsina. If Sitaula does not agree to become chairman, he is likely to become Deputy Prime Minister leading the NC in the government in the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle. It is said that NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba wants to award Sitaula for helping him to become party president in 2021 by making him a powerful DPM or NA chairman. Even PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda reportedly wants Sitaula in the Cabinet to conclude the peace process because Sitaula had played a key role in the peace process as the close aide of late Girija Prasad Koirala.
Although a candidate of the ruling party suffered defeat in Koshi, all 18 other candidates won the election.
In Madhes Province, Aananda Prasad Dhungan of NC and Puja Chaudhary from JSPN were elected.
In Bagmati Province, NC’s Jeet Jung Basnet and Bishnu Devi Pudasaini, CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Shree Krishna Prasad Adhikari and CPN (Unified Socialist)’s Ghana Shyam Rijal were elected.
In Gandaki Province, Manrupa Sharma of the CPN (Maoist Centre) and NC’s Kiran Babu Shrestha and Padam Bahadur Pariyar were elected.
In Lumbini Province, Bishnu Kumari Sapkota of the Nepali Congress and Jhakku Prasad Subedi of the CPN (Maoist Centre) won.
In Karnali Province, Krishna Bahadur Rokaya of the Nepali Congress, Sabitri Malla of CPN (Unified Socialist) and Bishnu BK of CPN (Maoist Centre) were elected.
In Sudurpashchim Province, Baldev Bohara and Narayan Datta Bhatta of the Nepali Congress and Renu Chand of CPN (Maoist Centre) won the election
Eight ruling parties including the NC, Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist), Janatasamajwadi Party-Nepal, Janamat Party, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and Nagarik Unmukti Party had forged electoral alliance by fielding common candidates. Likewise, UML and RPP have forged an alliance in Koshi.
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