KATHMANDU, JANUARY 30
The same candidates, who have similar personalities and competed in the 2022 elections in Kathmandu-8, are contesting election for the House of Representatives once again.
Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate in the 2022 election, won that constituency with 10,112 votes. Suman Sayami, the main competitor who lost the election, received 6,179 votes as an independent.
Jibram Shrestha, the coalition candidate of the Nepali Congress-Maoist Center-Unified Socialist Party, received 4,881 votes in that election; Prakash Rimal, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate, received 4,388 votes; and Shiva Sundar Rajvaidya, the CPNUML candidate, received 3,891.
Independent candidates running for other parties received fewer than 1,000 votes in that election. There were 19 candidates in total for the constituency. Except for Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Suman Sayami, the other main candidates in Kathmandu-8 are newcomers. However, unlike in previous elections, Sayami is now running as a candidate for the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).
This time, Sapana Rajbhandari has been nominated by the Nepali Congress, Rajesh Shakya by the CPN-UML, and Naveen Shahi by the RPP. They are all new faces in the election, competing against Suman and Biraj Bhakta.
Competition will therefore probably continue to surround them. Voters in Kathmandu generally alter their votes in each election at their own discretion. Every election, some of these constituencies have chosen different parties and candidates.
There are numerous reasons why the Kathmandu-8 election results could differ from those in 2022. First, from an organisational standpoint, it is reasonable to expect Suman Sayami, who ran against Biraj Bhakta independently in the previous election, to receive an increase in votes this time around because he is an NCP candidate.
Suman Sayami may receive a portion of the 4,881 organisational votes that Jeevaram Shrestha, who also had the support of the Nepali Congress, received in the 2022 election, i.e., the votes of the current NCP. However, Biraj Bhakta is able to receive votes based on the influence of his own party's single organisation because there isn't an alliance between all the parties in this election. Nonetheless, the NCP has recently extended its organisation across the country.
It can be assumed that whoever among Biraj Bhakta and Suman can effectively mobilise the organisation will create an environment for the respective party to receive more votes, since organisational mobilisation will also play a significant role in the election results.
Personality is another factor that will significantly affect the outcome of the election. Biraj Bhakta and Suman, the two primary rivals in Kathmandu-8, are both wellliked members of the local Newari community. In terms of social standing, both are nearly equal. They seem to have made almost equal contributions to various political, social, and cultural problems in Kathmandu.
On behalf of the Bibeksheel Sajha Party, Biraj Bhakta was elected to the Bagmati Provincial Assembly in the 2017 election. Following his election to the RSP in the 2022 election, he briefly served as the Minister of Youth and Sports.
In contrast, Suman ran in the 2022 local election for the position of Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. He also declared that he would back Balen and assist him in his endeavours after losing to him in that election. Later on, however, he began advocating on behalf of the inhabitants when the city began employing bulldozers in some settlements in the name of encroachment on public land and river conservation. Almost like a personality clash, Biraj Bhakta and Suman, who worked together on the Guthi Bill introduced by the then-KP Oli-led government and some issues in Kathmandu, appear to be at odds for the second time. This time, it's likely that the results will differ more based on who can foster a culture of trust among the denizens.