KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 9

The seniormost candidate in the November 20 election to the member of House of Representatives, Tika Datta Pokharel, asserted that his candidacy was for protecting the country, preserving democracy, and maintaining Nepal as a Hindu nation.

Pokharel celebrated his 100th birthday on October 31. The senior citizen from Ward No 2 of Siranchok Rural Municipality of Gorkha district expressed the conviction that he would be victorious in the polls with the overwhelming support of the people of Gorkha. 'The voters of Gorkha will vote a senior citizen and a democrat over 100 years of age and create history in this election.

Thus my name will be recorded in history as the seniormost parliamentarian of the country,' Pokharel said.

Pokharel said he was contesting in this parliamentary election to protect the country and democracy and to create an environment wherein the sons and daughters of Nepalis got employment within the country itself and did not have to toil in a foreign land for livelihood.

Pokharel said the people of Gorkha were campaigning in his support with the goal of making a 'son of the land of Gorkha and the oldest candidate victorious in the election'. He claimed that his victory was guaranteed.

Stating that the country was not anyone's dominion, the centenarian candidate said Gorkhalis should thoroughly evaluate how much and what works the candidate from the ruling alliance in the district had done for the district and its people. He believed that the 'educated and conscious' Gorkhali people would deliver their verdict on November 20.

He narrated that he had been jailed at various times in Birgunj and Raxaul in India while participating in the movement against the Rana oligarchy before 1950.

Pokharel also recalled that he spent about six years in jail in Gorkha and Lamjung for opposing the Panchayat system.

'My candidacy is for building a prosperous nation, a robust democracy and for establishing Nepal as a Hindu nation,' said Pokharel who is contesting in the election from Gorkha constituency- 2 on behalf the Nepali Congress (BP). His election symbol is 'Kalash', an urn. He faces 11 contenders, including CPN-Maoist Centre Chairperson and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Abdus Miya.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 10, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.