Kathmandu, December 3

Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha and Nepal Athletics Association President Rajeev Bikram Shah are among the 13 sports personalities contesting parliamentary and provincial elections slated for Thursday.

CPN-UML’s Shrestha, who lost to Nepali Congress’ Nabindra Raj Joshi in the previous election, faces the same opponent yet again in Kathmandu Constituency No 8. Shrestha is also a two-time member secretary of National Sports Council and President of Nepal Ski Association. Nepali Congress candidate Shah, who was elected to the second Constituent Assembly from his home constituency of Jajarkot, is standing against Maoist leader Shakti Bahadur Basnet this time.

Vice-president of Nepal Swimming Association Gita Rana is contesting from Kailali Constituency No 4 as an independent candidate. Rana, also the former vice-president of ANFA, is up against Sunil Kumar Bhandari of Nepali Congress and Lekhraj Bhatta of Maoist Centre.

Former ANFA vice-president Kishor Rai, former general secretary Kumar Jung Thapa and ex-CEO Indra Man Tuladhar, along with National Sports Council Treasurer Surendra Hamal and former U-19 national cricketer Fauzlur Rahman Khan are among others.

Former NSC treasurers Surendra Hamal and Min Krishna Maharjan are in the provincial races from Banke-2 (Kha) and Lalitpur-1 (Kha) respectively. Both Olympian and South Asian Games medal winner Hamal, who resigned from the post of NSC treasurer after he received the ticket for elections, and Shrestha represent Nepali Congress.

ANFA CEO Tuladhar, who is contesting in provincial elections from Kathmandu-9 (Ka), resigned from the post after he was named by Nepali Congress. Tuladhar is a long-time taekwondo coach and the president of ‘A’ division football outfit CMG Club Sankata.

Former NSC member secretary and former mayor of Kathmandu, Keshav Sthapit is in the race from Kathmandu-6 (Ka) from the CPN-UML, while ANFA vice-president Rai is representing Nepali Congress in the elections at Sunsari-1 (Ka). Likewise, former ANFA general secretary Kumar Jung Thapa is contesting in Sunsari-3 (Ka) from Nepali Congress, whereas ANFA Member Mohammed Sami Ulla, who is also an NSC member, is in the fray in Bara-3 from Nepali Congress.

Former U-19 national cricket team member Faizlur Rehman Khan is in the race from CPN-UML representing the left alliance in Kapilvastu-1 (Ka). The 26-year-old cricketer — who played in the U-19 team from 2011-2015 — is up against Sahasram Yadav of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and Madhu Sudan Chaudhary of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal in a three-way battle.

Two former presidents of Cricket Association of Nepal are also in fray in the provincial elections from Maoist Centre. Tanka Angbuhang, who led the CAN for four years, is in the fray from Taplejung (Kha), while Deepak Koirala is contesting in Kaski-1 (Kha).

Former treasurer of Nepal Volleyball Association Buddhi Katwal is contesting from the Nepali Congress in the provincial elections in Sunsari-1 (Ka).