Saptari Constituency-2 ‘kha’ talk of town

Rajbiraj, November 6

As the date for the elections draw closer, election fever has gone up in provincial election Constituency No 2 ‘kha’ in Saptari of late.

While Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal General Secretary Manish Suman is contesting for the provincial seat on behalf of the RJPN-Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal alliance, CPN-MC’s Mahesh Prasad Yadav is running from the CPN-UML-CPN-MC alliance. Besides, seven other candidates including Nepali Congress’s Mahananda Yadav, Paramananda Mehata of United Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Rastrabadi) and independent candidate Laxman Yadav are also in the fray. The electoral battle here merits greater attention also given the fact that Rajbiraj, which has the largest number of voters and is strategically important, falls in this provincial constituency.

It is important to note that RJP-N had won both the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in Rajbiraj municipality in the local elections. As the constituency is considered the most secure, the RJPN-FSFN alliance is said to have fielded its general secretary from here. But, with the decision of Laxman Yadav, RJP-N area president, to file his candidacy as an independent candidate by leaving the party, Suman’s win seems a little difficult. What more, RJP-N central member Paramananda Mehata’s decision to abandon his party over ‘unfair’ election ticket distribution to contest from a different party is also taken as a challenge to Manish’s candidacy.

Suman seemed pretty confident about his win. “As my candidacy is for development in the Madhes and constitution amendment and to address other concerns of the Madhes, people will of course vote for me,” he said, vowing to develop Saptari as one of the most prosperous districts in the Madhes.

Similarly, left alliance candidate Yadav said people will evaluate his party’s contribution to the development of Madhes while being in the power, independent candidate Yadav said his candidacy was in line with the wish of the locals. “I was on the frontline of the Madhes agitation and other struggles. As people like me, I decided to run in the election as per the wishes of the people here,” he said, pledging to leave no stone unturned for the development of the constituency and the district if elected.

Mehata, on his part, said his contribution to the downtrodden and poor will help him win the election.

Provincial assembly Constituency No 2 ‘kha’ comprising Rajbiraj municipality and wards 1 and 3 of Mahadeva rural municipality has a total of 37,502 voters.