Kathmandu, October 11

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leader Bamdev Gautam is unlikely to contest parliamentary by-election from Kathmandu-7, but a formal decision in this regard will be taken by the party after Dashain.

Party leaders as well as locals of the constituency have opposed Gautam’s plan to contest by-election from Kathmandu-7. NCP (NCP) lawmaker Ram Bir Manandhar had tendered his resignation on Tuesday to allow Gautam to contest by-election from the constituency.

Gautam said ‘people with criminal mentality’ had ganged up against him. “Party leaders have hatched a conspiracy against me,” he told THT. The party secretariat meeting which was scheduled for yesterday has been rescheduled for October 21 and 22, while the party’s standing committee will meet on October 29 and 30. “The party had decided that I would be fielded wherever the lawmaker’s post fell vacant,” he said.

Manandhar, who was not willing to sacrifice his seat eventually agreed to do so after he was promised central committee membership, a seat in the National Assembly, ministerial berth and ‘cash incentives’.

Gautam has assured Manandhar that if he is allowed to contest from Kathmandu-7, he would announce development package for the constituency before the election code comes into force.

Following the consultation with party leaders and cadres yesterday, he reached a conclusion that it could be risky for his image and he might reconsider it. Gautam visited Dahal yesterday evening at Khumaltar.

According to sources, Dahal and Gautam had analysed the situation of inside the party and public perception of Gautam. Dahal said yesterday that by-election in Kathmandu-7 would not be held if the party risked losing the seat.

“People with criminal mentality misused social media against me,” Gautam said. Gautam had lost from Bardiya in the 2017 parliamentary election.