KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 6
Despite extreme cold in Solukhumbu, home to the world's highest peak Mount Everest, election fever has gripped the district's sole House of Representatives constituency, where 12 candidates are contesting the upcoming polls. Solukhumbu is among the few constituencies where no independent candidates have filed nominations.
Major contenders include Prakash Singh Karki of the Nepali Congress, Kalpana Rai of the CPN-UML, Asim Rai of the Nepali Communist Party, and Rishidhan Thulung Rai of the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Other candidates in the fray are Bias Rai of the Shram Sanskriti Party, Rajendra Basnet of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Lakpa Sherpa of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Pemba Chhiri Sherpa of the Ujjaya Nepal Party, Kamal Bahadur Magar of the Nepal Mazdoor Kisan Party, Man Kumar Gurung of the Mongol National Organization, Shreedhwaj Tamang of Miteri Party Nepal, and Gunaraj F Bhattarai of the Aam Janata Party.
Once considered a Congress stronghold after the infamous 'Timurbote incident' of 1974, Solukhumbu saw the party win consecutive elections from 1991 to 1999. However, electoral outcomes have since been mixed. The Maoist Centre won in 2008, Congress reclaimed the seat in 2013, while UML and Maoist candidates emerged victorious in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
Congress candidate Karki, a permanent resident of Nechasalyan Rural Municipality, is a tourism entrepreneur and former president of the Nepal Freight Forward Association. He has also served on the executive committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Considered close to Congress leader Gagan Thapa, Karki secured the ticket despite being the fourth recommendation from the district.
Karki's strength lies in his community background, as he is the only major-party candidate from the Khas Arya community, which makes up around 35 percent of the constituency. However, internal factionalism within the party and difficulty attracting floating voters remain major challenges.
The UML has fielded Kalpana Rai, a former deputy mayor of Solududhkunda Municipality, aiming to consolidate support among the Rai community, which constitutes around 40 percent of the population. UML candidate Manvir Rai had won the seat in the previous election. Rai's organizational networking and grassroots reach, particularly in district headquarters areas, are viewed as her key strengths.
In the previous proportional representation vote, UML led with 15,705 votes, followed by Congress with 10,473 and the Maoists with 8,534 votes. The Nepal Communist Party has nominated Asim Rai, who resigned from his post as chairman of Thulung Dudhkoshi Rural Municipality with one-and-a-half years remaining in his term. His personal influence at the local level is considered strong, raising expectations that he could attract floating voters. However, the party's relatively weak organizational base and vote-splitting within the same community pose challenges.
Rishidhan Thulung Rai of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, a permanent resident of the Tingla area, is banking on the national-level popularity of his party. With academic credentials up to the doctoral level, he is expected to appeal to educated voters, though limited familiarity with local geography is seen as a drawback.
In the 2022 elections, UML swept all parliamentary and provincial seats in the district. While Manvir Rai won the House of Representatives seat, Uttam Kumar Basnet and Buddhi Kumar Rajbhandari were elected to the Provincial Assembly. However, local level election results show Congress holding a majority in four of the district's seven local units, with UML winning two and the Maoists one-indicating a competitive race in the high-altitude district.
