Kathmandu, March 29
A veteran leader of CPN-Maoist Centre Shiva Chandra Kushwaha joined the Janamat Party today. He informed he had joined Janamat Party at a press conference in the capital at Reporters' Club this afternoon.
Kushwaha said he had joined Janamat Party after he was snubbed by the CPN-Maoist Centre. He had filed nomination from the CPN-Maoist Centre in Bara Constituency-2 for election to the House of Representatives held on November 20 last year. He was defeated by a slim margin of 354 votes by Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal candidate Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav. Yadav had garnered 13,823 votes while Kushwaha had received 13,468 votes.
As Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav was elected vice-president, his constituency fell vacant as per the election code of conduct. The by-election has been slated for April 23 to elect a new lawmaker from Bara Constituency-2.
After joining Janamat Party, Kushwaha said he would contest the by-election from Bara Constituency-2.
Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav is preparing to contest the by-election in that constituency from the ruling alliance. Meanwhile, Janamat Party Chair CK Raut said Upendra Yadav's candidacy would be an insult to Janamat Party, adding, "We will not let that happen."
Speaking at a press conference held at the Reporters' Club, he said he would only settle down after defeating JSP-N President Upendra Yadav in Bara Constituency-2.
Targeting JSP-N chair Yadav, Dr Raut said, "The by-election in Bara Constituency-2 is not just a competition between candidates but a contest between maintaining democracy and making a mockery of it. A conspiracy has been hatched to get someone in through loopholes. Bara Constituency-2 was vacated. The public opinion given by the people was insulted."
He further said people had voted with expectations and they would not let it go in vain.He said as soon as the seat became vacant, the Election Commission announced the date of the by-election with the connivance of the government.
He also said the vice-presidential election was rigged and women were deprived of their rights.
Raut further said, "Someone is too eager to become a minister. He has set a goal that until he becomes a minister from the party, nobody will get it. It's either him or nobody. This tradition of scapegoating parties' cadres must end but he has been manoeuvring all the coalition parties to claim ministry and forced them to conduct by-elections by April 23."
When it was discussed that Upendra Yadav would be a candidate in Bara Constituency-2, he questioned the moral of ruling alliance leaders. "Why should leaders make all the sacrifices in the name of the alliance and big leaders?" he asked. He claimed that the people of Bara Constituency-2 would not let that happen and that they would vote for the local candidate.
"It has not been four months since he was defeated by such a mammoth vote margin. It is an insult to public opinion to forcefully try to repeat his candidacy when the people have rejected it," he said.
