KATHMANDU, JANUARY 30 While Madhav Kumar Nepal, the Nepali Communist Party's joint coordinator, has filed for re-election from Rautahat Constituency-1 in the upcoming March 5 elections, he faces solid opposition, unlike the last election of 2022. Madhav Nepal, who won easily in the previous election thanks to a five-party alliance that included the Nepali Congress, hopes to continue his legacy this time around. He is running in this election for the NCP, which was formed by the meagre of over a dozen other parties. Ajay Kumar Gupta of the CPN-UML, Anil Kumar Jha of the Nepali Congress, Rajesh Chaudhary of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and others are running for election. Voters in this area have repeatedly given opportunities to candidates from various parties. CPN-UML's candidate for Nepal is a previous election competitor. Madhav Nepal won with 33,522 votes, while Gupta of UML received 26,922 votes. Nepal, who was also the president of the CPN (Unified Socialist) at the time, had the backing of the Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoists) when the CPN-UML ran this election on its own. The Nepali Congress' candidate is likewise strong. Jha, president of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party, was elected from the same constituency by the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal in 2017. In that election, Nepal won the Kathmandu Constituency-2. Prior to that, Madhav Nepal had won from CPN-UML in the elections of 1999 and 2013, the second constituent assembly election. It is expected that Gupta of CPN-UML and Jha, nominated by the Nepali Congress, will pose a challenge to Nepal, which has now entered the field without the support of the Nepali Congress. Jha, who won in 2017, is one of the most influential figures in this field. This area includes Gaur Municipality, Rajdevi Municipality, Madhav Narayan Municipality, Durga Bhagwati Municipality, Yamunamai Municipality, Garuda Municipality-1, and Rautahat's Gadhimai Municipality wards 6, 7 and 8. In the last election, the Nepali Congress was the first party to receive the most votes under the proportional representation system in 2022. The Nepali Congress had received 19,119 votes. As a result, if the Nepali Congress nominates Jha, it appears that he will be the primary challenger to Madhav Nepal. The CPN-UML received 11,089 votes, followed by the CPN (Unified Socialist) with 9,578 votes, the JSP-Nepal with 6,935 votes, Janamat with 6,288 votes and the CPN (Maoist) with 2,791 votes. Similarly, the Sanghiya Samajwadi Party received 2,437 votes, followed by the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party-Nepal with 1,955 votes and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) with 819 votes. Although the CPN (US) received a good number of votes in the proportional representation system, as it is the home district of Madhav Nepal, who was also the then chair of the CPN (US), the votes are not significant. This makes it seem that this election may be difficult for Madhav Nepal. The new face of the RSP is expected to have a direct impact on Madhav Nepal, as are strong competitors from the Congress and the UML. The public's perception of Madhes appears to be changing after the RSP nominated senior leader Balen Shah as a potential prime minister. 'I have already started telling my family and relatives to vote for Balen,' Rautahat resident Dinesh Thakur told THT. 'To teach people how to vote for Balen, I'm going to visit my family and other homes. 'Ab Ki Bar Balen Sarkar' translates as 'This time, Balen's government.'