KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER
Former prime minister and Chair of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane have beaten their nearest rivals with huge margins to win seats in the House of Representatives.
Dahal has won the parliamentary seat from Gorkha-2, securing 26,109 votes. His nearest rival from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Kabindra Burlakoti, got 12,639 votes. Dahal, whose hometown is Chitwan, had filed his candidacy from Gorkha-2.
Lamichhane, who contested the parliamentary election from Chitwan-2, also won with a huge margin.
In fact, the biggest so far in this election. He beat his nearest rival with more than 34,000 votes.
Lamichhane secured 49, 264 votes, while Nepali Congress' Umesh Shrestha got 14,983 votes. CPN- UML's Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, who had won the seat five years ago, finished third with 14, 647 votes.
Other prominent winners
• Nepali Congress leader Shashank Koirala won from Nawalparasi Susta East-1 constituency with 27,067 votes. His nearest rival Krishna Prasad Paudel of the CPN-UML got 25,047 votes. Koirala had won from the same constituency in 2017 elections as well
• Former prime minister and Chair of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal has won from his home constituency of Rautahat-1. He got 35,522 votes. His nearest rival, UML's Ajay Kumar Gupta, got 26,922 votes
• NC leader Ramchandra Paudel has won from Tanahun-1 by securing 25,318 votes. UML's Ek Bahadur Rana was second with 19,943.
• CPN-MC's Rekha Sharma has won from Dang-2, defeating a big shot with a small margin. She defeated former chief minister of Lumbini and UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel by 196 votes. She polled 26,877 votes, Pokharel got 26,681 votes
• Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden has retained his Jhapa-3 seat. Lingden defeated NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula by 3,276 votes. Lingden secured 40,662 votes, while Sitaula received 37,386 votes. As in 2017 general election, he had the backing of UML. In 2017 also, he had defeated Sitaula
• Chair of Nagarik Unmukti Party Ranjita Shrestha has won from Kailali-1. She got 30,404 votes. Her nearest rival Ram Janam Chaudhary of CPN-UML got 18,081 votes. Shrestha is the wife of Resham Chaudhary, who is cooling his heels in Dillibazar prison after being convicted for Tikapur carnage of 2015. Chaudhary, however, has appealed his conviction
• Independent candidate Prabhu Sah has won from Rautahat-3 for the third consecutive time. He secured 32,437 votes, while his nearest rival Om Prakash Jayaswal (independent) got 25,200 votes
• Independent candidate Yogendra Mandal has won from Morang-5. He got 21,820 votes, while his nearest rival Shiva Kumar Mandal from the CPN-MC got 17,486 votes. Yogendra was associated with the CPN-UML, but decided to contest as an independent after UML denied him a ticket. The UML backed Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal for the seat
A version of this article appears in the print on November 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
