• CONSTITUENCY WATCH
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 5
Bhaktapur Constituency-2 voters have switched representatives each time.
The election results of Bhaktapur-2 since 1991 reveal that this constituency does not like to have the same representatives.
In 1991, Jagannath Acharya of the Nepali Congress was elected, and in 1994, Aasakaji Basukala of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, Lekh Nath Neupane of the Nepali Congress, Sunil Prajapati of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, Rameshwar Prasad Dhungel of the Nepali Congress, Mahesh Basnet of the CPNUML, and Durlabh Thapa Chhetri of the Nepali Congress were elected.
In the 2022 House of Representatives election, Nepali Congress candidate Durlabh Thapa Chhetri received 24,239 votes. His opponent, Mahesh Basnet of the CPNUML, received 23,282 votes. Similarly, Anuradha Thapa Magar of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party received 7,127 votes; Sajan BK of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) received 4,098 votes; and Moshan KC of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) received 2,569 votes. This time around, UML Secretary Basnet is back in the race, and he appears to be one of the leading candidates in Bhaktapur-2, having often made headlines for his activities.
After the Gen Z uprising on September 8 and 9 last year, when other political party leaders were afraid to speak out, UML's Basnet and his team took to the streets.
He organised a programme at the UML headquarters in Chyasal to boost cadres' morale. Basnet welcomed and supported former Prime Minister and UML Chair Oli, who resigned after the Gen Z uprising and returned after more than a week, with a big cheer.
Basnet uses social media to make serious comments about the violent aspects of the Generation Z uprising. Negative criticism from others has no effect on him. He has even referred to Gen Z as 'terrorists' in media interviews.
He has also stated explicitly that if he is elected and becomes home minister, he will imprison Gen Zs. He has also been a strong critic of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and leaders.
As a result, Rajiv Khatri of the RSP, who has long been a vocal critic of Basnet on social media, is running for the Bhaktapur-2 seat.
Basnet and Khatri, who are fierce critics of each other on social media, are running for the same seat, which has heightened interest in the results of Bhaktapur Constituency 2.
Basnet, who entered national politics as a ward chair, has developed a distinct image in Bhaktapur. With a background in journalism, Rajiv Khatri is new to the political scene.
Kabir Rana of the Nepali Congress and Ram Prasad Sapkota 'Deepshikha' of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) are also candidates for Bhaktapur-2. Their party organisation is a more powerful factor than their personal influence.
The Ujyaalo Nepal Party has fielded Jitram Lama, the Shram Sanskriti Party has Arjun Basu, and the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party (PLP) has Janma Dev Jaisi. Jaisi is a former journalist as well.
He is currently engaged in a door-to-door campaign among voters after registering his candidature. Speaking with THT, Jaisi stated that he entered parliamentary politics from journalism and the labour movement, as he felt it was necessary to raise his voice in the legislative process.
"While in the field of journalism, I constantly raised my voice against irregularities, anarchy, and labour exploitation," he said. "But after Singha Durbar did not listen to the voices raised from the streets, I have now decided to go inside the parliament and raise these issues."
He believes that current laws are insufficient to ensure journalists' professional security, self-reliance, and dignity. He stated that he wanted to go to where policy is made, as policy reforms are required for that.
He described the latest 'Gen Z Movement' as a rebellion against traditional political culture, arguing that a new political culture is required that incorporates contemporary political thinking and the information revolution.
Speaking of differences with other parties, Jaisi stated that the PLP supports a new state structure and governance model as an alternative to the traditional political structure.
According to him, the party's agendas include constitutional amendment, electoral system reform, restructuring of key state bodies, a direct executive system, full proportional representation, the 'right to reject', the 'right to recall', and a 'no vote' system. He clarified that the definition of victory in the upcoming election goes beyond the number of seats.
"The question of why this election occurred is significant in and of itself," he stated. "The state structure has already been shown to be ineffective by the Gen Z movement."
Bhaktapur Constituency-2 has a total of 98,356 voters. There are 48,074 males, 50,277 females, and 5 other voters.
However, in Bhaktapur-2, the primary competition is likely to centre around the Nepali Congress, the UML, and the RSP.
Suryabinayak and Madhyapur Thimi Municipalities are part of the Bhaktapur-2 parliamentary constituency. These two municipalities contain 19 wards.