Nepal Votes

Karnali province favours Nepali Congress, NCP amid RSP dominance

Out of 12 seats Nepali Congress wins five, the Nepali Communist Party bags four, and CPN-UML, RPP, and RSP claim one one each

By Bal Krishna Sah

KATHMANDU, MARCH 8 The results for all 12 constituencies in Karnali Province's 10 districts have been made public. According to the final results from the Election Commission, the Nepali Congress won the most seats-five. By winning elections in four constituencies, the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) demonstrated that Karnali remains the CPN (Maoists') base of support. Similarly, the CPN-UML, which won six seats in 2017 but none in 2022, won the Dailak-2 election. Gyan Bahadur Shahi (Gyanendra) of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has been elected to the House of Representatives for the second time from Jumla. He was also elected in 2022. While Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidates are sweeping the country, only Ramesh Kumar Sapkota has won Surkhet-2, one of Karnali's twelve constituencies. NEPALI CONGRESS: 5 WINS * DAILEKH-1 Basna Thapa of the Nepali Congress won in Dailekh-1. She won the election with 12,372 votes. Her closest competitor, Rabindra Raj Sharma of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), received 11,796 votes. * SURKHET-1 Bishnu Bahadur Khadka, the Nepali Congress candidate, has won Surkhet Constituency-1. He was elected to the House of Representatives after defeating CPN-UML candidate Dhruba Bahadur Shahi. Khadka won with 26,897 votes, and Shahi received 18,890 votes. In Surkhet-1, RSP candidate Tek Bahadur Singh Thakuri finished third with 14,729 votes. Jit Bahadur Rana, the Nepali Communist Party candidate who finished fifth, received 2,828 votes. Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate Rabi Hamal Thukuri received 1,049 votes. * JAJARKOT Khadak Bahadur Budha, a Nepali Congress candidate, has won the Jajarkot seat. Budha, who entered the electoral fray for the first time, was successful in demolishing the CPN (Maoist), the communists, who had previously won three consecutive elections. According to the Election Commission's final results, Budha won with 20,142 votes. His closest rival, CPN member Shakti Bahadur Basnet, received only 17,407 votes. Dambar Bahadur Singh of the UML received 16,883 votes, placing third. The RSP candidate Raghav Karki received 2,471 votes. RPP candidate Krishna Bikram Shah got 359 votes. * HUMLA Jayapati Rokaya of the Nepali Congress has won in Humla. He won with a margin of 1,549 votes. He garnered 8,779 votes. Dipendra Rokaya of the Nepali Communist Party was his nearest competitor, receiving 7243 votes. In third place, the CPN-UML's Phadera party received 4,331 votes, while RSP candidate Tashi Lhanjom received 1,064 votes. * MUGU-1 Khadak Bahadur Shahi won Mugu constituency-1 with 7,814 votes, while his closest competitor, Purna Bahadur Rokaya of the CPN-UML, received 6,718. Chandra Bahadur Shahi of the NCP finished third with 5,558 votes. NEPALI COMMUNIST PARTY (NCP): 3 WINS * KALIKOT Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, the NCP candidate in Kalikot, won. He won with a margin of 986 votes. Shahi has 11,338 votes, while his closest competitor, Nagindra Shahi of the CPN-UML, has 10,352 votes. * SALYAN Ramesh Kumar Malla of the Nepali Communist Party was elected to the House of Representatives in Salyan. Malla was elected with 23,989 votes. His nearest rival, RSP candidate Lalit Chand, received 20,904 votes. Malle defeated Chand with a margin of 2,285 votes. Malla was the personal secretary of NCP Chairman Prachanda while he was Prime Minister. He rose to prominence through student activism. Chand, the defeated RSP candidate, serves as the General Secretary of Karnali Province. Nepali Congress finished third in Salyan. Nepali Congress candidate Kesh Bahadur Bista received 17,558 votes. Bista is the district's party president. The CPN-UML finished fourth here. Gulab Jung Shah, the UML Karnali Province President, received 15,373 votes. * DOLPA-1 Dhan Bahadur Budha, 51, of the NCP, has won the Dolpa constituency. He won with 6,802 votes, while his closest rival, Lanka Bahadur Rokaya of the CPN-UML, received 5,396 votes. Karna Bahadur Budha of the Nepali Congress came in third with 2,947 votes. * RUKUM WEST Gopal Sharma of the NCP won the Rukum West constituency with 21,609 votes, defeating his closest competitor, Raju K.C. of the Nepali Congress, who received 16,661 votes. Janardan Sharma of the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party (PLP) won 14,346, while RSP candidate Man Bahadur Shahi received only 4,076 votes. CPN-UML: 1 WIN * DAILEKH-2 In Dailekh constituency-2, CPN-UML candidate Laxmi Prasad Pokharel defeated his closest rival, Nepali Congress candidate Dikpal Kumar Shahi, who received 9,552 votes, and RSP candidate Bakhat Bahadur Shahi, who received 6,797. RASTRIYA PRAJATANTRA PARTY (RPP): 1 WIN * JUMLA Gyan Bahadur Shahi (Gyanendra), the RPP candidate, won in Jumla. Shahi was elected for the second time from Jumla, with 14,816 votes. His nearest competitor, Naresh Bhandari of the NCP, received 11,636 votes, but Shahi defeated Bhandari by a margin of 3,181 votes. This is the RPP's first victory. RASTRIYA SWATANTRA PARTY (RSP): 1 WIN * SURKHET-2 Ramesh Kumar Sapkota of RSP Surkhet-2 received 30,826 votes, while his closest rival, Nepali Congress candidate Narayan Kumar Koirala, received 16,392 votes. Kulmani Devlota from UML finished third with 13,155 votes.