DHANGADI, MARCH 10
With the announcement of the date for the upcoming local elections, election fever is slowly taking hold in Sudurpaschim.
The government has declared the date for the upcoming local elections for May 13. With this, major political parties have started their preparations. Though the parties haven't publicly declared their candidates yet, lobbying for election tickets is already happening.
In view of the elections, parties have formed different committees at all the local levels, including Dhangadi sub-metropolis, which is also the provincial capital.
The number of aspirants seeking to clinch election tickets has increased in all the political parties compared to the last election not only in Dhangadi, but even in other local levels.
Youth activist Udaya Bhat of Lamkichuha Municipality declared his independent candidacy on the very day the government declared the election date. He has also started his election campaign.
Nepali Congress's former district secretary Dipak Joshi said political parties would have a hard time managing a flood of their cadres seeking election tickets.
"People have seen the facilities and status that elected representatives have enjoyed, so it is obvious that more people will come forward lobbying for election tickets, making it difficult for the parties to make their picks," Joshi said. "Even those who ran for ward members earlier are staking their claims for the post of local level chiefs and deputies," he added.
Though sitting local representatives haven't declared their candidacies yet, given the strict directive from their respective parties against announcing their candidacies on social platforms, they are said to be getting their supporters to do it on their behalf.
Apart from the provincial capital Dhangadi, potential candidates have started creating election environment in several places such as Kanchanpur's Bhimdatta Municipality, Dadeldhura's Amargadhi Municipality and Kailali's Tikapur Municipality by reaching out to households and declaring their wish to contend in the forthcoming election.
There is no certainty whether the sitting elected people's representatives will get to contend once again.
While there is some discussion within the parties whether it is good to repeat sitting representatives in view of their work experience, parties are also said to be wary about repeating candidates that haven't been able to win people's hearts and have been criticised.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
