KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 22

Senior Vice-chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Rabindra Mishra, who lost the electoral race for the House of Representatives from Kathmandu's Constituency No 1 to Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh by a small margin of just 132 votes, has thanked his voters and announced he will be setting up a fund dedicated to Kathmandu's Constituency No 1.

Singh received 7,143 votes, while Mishra garnered 7,011 votes. Singh had defeated Mishra in the earlier polls of 2017 as well.

In the first general elections following the promulgation of the new constitution, NC's Singh had won with 10,936 votes while Mishra, contesting on behalf of Bibeksheel Sajha Party, had received 10,118 votes.

Mishra issued a press statement today and said that 'I am a little sad to be defeated by a small margin of 125 votes, but I want to inform you that I am more determined than ever in the journey of transforming society and the nation. I will not let the votes I have won in the last five years of my ups and downs in politics, amidst adversity and planned sieges, go to waste.'

Mishra further expressed his deepest gratitude to voters and said 'I am not here to manoeuvre and lie to get votes and was never interested in politics in which one would win but the nation would lose.'.

He also said that many friends are expressing their deep sympathy to me, worrying about the election results. Being a person of somewhat spiritual nature, I believe in doing work without worrying much about the results'. I believe that the fruits of karma are not in your control. Therefore, I can easily accept life's adversities.

'I am moved by the thoughts of my well-wishers and supporters, in some of whom I have seen not only affection, but also tears in their eyes during the 2017 and current election campaigns. Politics is such a field where you cannot do much without winning elections. I was defeated in two elections by a small margin. But I have not been able to do anything for the voters of Kathmandu Constituency-1 who have shown great faith in me,' said Mishra.

'I am from a journalism and philanthropic background. I see no possibility of returning to journalism or contributing to my constituency through journalism. But in order to express my gratitude to the voters of Kathmandu Constituency-1 who believed in me even in the face of great adversity, I have decided to use the money received from the sale of my last two books (Bichar Bhanda Mathi Desh and Rajniti Sangai Rajkaj) and add an additional amount of Rs 2.5 million from 'seed money' to establish Kathmandu Constituency-1 Welfare Fund, which will give me some peace of mind,' Mishra stated.

He further added, 'Help Nepal Network, a charitable organisation founded under my leadership, was also brought into operation with a small amount of money and today it has done hundreds of charitable works with the help of Nepali people from all over the world.

Similarly, I am confident that the 'Kathmandu Constituency-1 Welfare Fund' will be able to do many good works in this area (wards 10, 11, 29 and 31) in the future. Kathmandu Constituency-1 and other well-wishers living in different countries of the world can support the fund. I will inform you shortly about how to formalise the fund, how to operate it and what kind of work to focus on.'

Meanwhile, he also congratulated Prakash Man Singh for securing victory in the election through the press statement.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 23, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.