KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 3
A total of 31 people, including two youth leaders Gagan Thapa of the Nepali Congress and Rajan Bhattarai of the Nepal Communist Party-UML, are vying for the upcoming House of Representatives election from Constituency No 4 of Kathmandu.
Thapa has already been elected from the same constituency on two occasions. He had defeated Bhattarai in the previous 2017 election.
Both the youth leaders have garnered equal appreciation and criticism from people residing in the area around Budhanilkantha, Kapan, Chabahil, Maitidevi and Kalopul areas.
While NC's Thapa garnered fame during his tenure as health minister, UML's Bhattarai who has doctorate degree in International Studies was nominated lawmaker under proportional representation category from this constituency in the Constituent Assembly election of 2003.
Thapa's fame does not seem to be declining in the area in terms of the votes he received in the past two elections. In 2013 election, Thapa had received 22,336 votes while he got 21,558 votes in the 2017 election.
But the winning margin for Thapa drastically declined in the last election. In the 2013 election, Thapa had won the election by over 13,000 votes while his win was secured by over 3,000 votes in 2017 election.
However, in 2017 Bhattarai was a candidate from the left alliance while Thapa is supported by CPN Maoist Centre this time around.
People in Budhanilkantha area, that THT spoke with said they had still not decided who to vote for. "We are yet to test the competitors as we have not heard from any of them yet. We will cast votes for the one who can ensure infrastructure development in our areas," said Sumitra Subedi of Deuba chowk in Budhanilkantha.
People also complained that Thapa had failed to develop road and other infrastructure in their area. "We have seen on Facebook page that we should not repeat the same person over and over again. So, I think it's time for us to show the leaders what true power people hold and vote for some new face," said Bishnu Subedi, another local from Chabahil area.
Many youths and first time voters, however, have made up their mind to vote for lauro (stick) symbol although they do not know if there is any candidate in the area with that symbol.
"I think I will vote for lauro," said Subina Theeng, 19, of Kapan who was spotted in college dress in Baneshwor.
A total of 14 independent candidates are vying from the area, but many people do not seem to know about them or their election symbols.
"I wish I knew more about independent candidates and their vision," said another college student Samana Thapa of the same place.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 4, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
