• Each province will elect eight members to the National Assembly

Biratnagar/Janakpur/Dhangadi, January 24

Nominations were filed for National Assembly polls slated for February 7 in all the seven provinces today.

Candidacies were filed for 56 members of the NA at the rate of eight members from each province. Each province will elect eight members including three from open, three women, one Dalit, one disabled or backward/minority category. Nominations were registered at the office of returning officers in Biratnagar, Province 1;  Janakpur, Province 2;  Lalitpur, Province 4;  Pokhara, Province 4; Dang, Province 5; Surkhet, Province 6; and Doti, Province 7  today.

A total of 12 candidates filed their nominations for NA poll from Province 1.

Assistant Returning officer in Biratnagar Nabaraj Dahal said seven from the left alliance four from Nepali Congress and one from Rastriya Prajatantra Party filed their nominations.

Khadga Bahadur Basnet, Parsuram Meghi Gurung and Hari Charan Siwakoti from UML and NC’ Rameshjung Rayamajhi filed their candidacies from the open category.

UML’s Khem Nepali, and NC’s Bin Kumar Biswokarma filed their nomination from Dalit category. UML’s Agam Prasad Bantawa Rai, RPP’s Anupama Devi Sah and NC’s Mahesh Jaju filed their nominations from minority group. UML’s Nainkala Ojha, CPN-Maoist Centre’s Bina Pokhrel, and NC’s Sarita Prasai filed their nomination from women’s category.

Women candidates from Province 1 were elected unopposed since only three female candidates had registered their nominations. From women’s category, UML’s Nainkala Ojha, Maoist Centre’s Bina Pokhrel and NC’s Sarita Prasai were elected unopposed.

Province 1 has 264 chiefs and deputy chiefs of local levels and 93 Provincial Assembly members as voters for the NA polls.

Nine candidates filed their nominations for the NA polls at the office of Returning Officer in Janakpurdham of Province 2. Federal Socialist Forum Nepal’s Ramprit Paswan filed his candidacy from the Dalit category. Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal’s Brisesh Chandra Lal (minority) re-registered his nomination. FSF-N’s Pramila Kumari, NC’s Mukta Kumari Yadav and CPN-MC’s Sashikala Dahal filed their nominations from women’s category. From open category, NC’s Jitendra Narayan Dev, FSF-N’s Mohammad Akhtar Hussain and RJP-N’s Ramesh Prasad Yadav and UML’s Suman Raj Pyakurel filed their nominations.

Meanwhile, Nepali Janata Dal’s Chairman Hari Charan Sah could not file his nomination as Kalikamai Rural Municipality Chair Nathuni Prasad did not propose him.

Twelve candidates from four different parties filed their nominations for the NA polls for Province 4 in Pokhara.

CPN-MC’s Khim Kumar BK and NC’s Jit Bahadur Nepali field their candidacies from the Dalit category in the province. NC’s Prakash Panth and left alliance’s Ram Bahadur Thapa (from minority and disabled) filed their nominations.

For the three posts of NA under women’s category, UML’s Deepa Gurung, Mina Pun of Rastriya Janamorcha,  NC’s Binda Devi Ale Rana, Shanti Kumari Adhikari from UML filed their nominations.

Krishna Prasad Sharma of Rastriya Janamorcha, Ganesh Prasad Timilsena of the UML, CPN-MC’s Dinanath Sharma and NC’s Surendra Pandey filed their nominations from open category.

Province 4 has 230 voters including chiefs and deputy chiefs of local levels and Provincial Assembly members to cast their ballots for the NA polls.

As many as 11 persons filed their nominations for the NA polls from province 5. According to the province election office, Ramlakhan Harijan (Dalit), Khimlal Bhattarai (open), Mina Budha (women), Komal Oli (Women), from the CPN-UML filed their candidacies. From the CPN-Maoist Centre, Raj Kumar Kunwar (minority and disabled) and Chandra Bahadur Khadka (open) filed their nominations. From the NC, Durga Prasad Upadhyay (other group), Anita Devkota (women), Maikulal Balmiki (Dalit) and Lut Bahadur Khatri (disabled) registered their nominations. Rastriya Janamorcha’s Rashmiraj Nepali filed his candidacy.

A total of 12 candidates from UML, NC and CPN-MC filed their candidacies from Province 6 for the NA polls. From the left alliance, UML filed the nomination of the five candidates while the CPN-MC registered the candidacies of three candidates. The Office of the Returning Officer said that Nanda Sharma Chapai and Kabita Bogati from women; Bhairab Sundar Shrestha and Thagendra Prakash Puri from other category; and Narapati Lohar from Dalit category filed their nominations from the UML. Similarly, Kali Bahadur Malla (other), Jeevan Budha (disabled),  and Yuton Tamang (women) filed their candidacies from the CPN-MC. From the NC, Gopal Prasad Sharma (disabled), Mritlal Sarki (Dalit), Suryadevi Malla (women) and Bishnu Bahadur Shahi (other category) filed their nominations.

As many as ten candidates from the NC, UML and CPN-MC field their nominations from Province 7. Sher Bahadur Kunwar (open), Indu Kadariya (women), Kamala Oli (women), and Chakra Prasad Snehi(Dalit) from the UML filed their nominations for the NA polls.

Badri Pandey (open), Tara Devi Bhatta (women), Sheriram Parki (Dalit), and Chhatra Raj Joshi (disabled/minority) from the NC filed their nominations. From the CPN-MC, Hariram Chaudhary (open), and Mahesh Kumar Mahara (disabled/minority) filed their nominations in the province.