• Tripathi had lost to Jayaswal by a margin of 6,000 votes in the second CA election

Nawalparasi, November 8

Having quit Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, Hridayes Tripathi is contesting as a left alliance candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election.

One of the most influential Madhesi leaders, Tripathi is taking on his former two-time rival Nepali Congress’s Dewakaran Jayasawal from Bardaghat Susta West-1, Nawalparasi.

Having contested seven times in elections, Tripathi had won four times including in the first Constituent Assembly election from the same constituency. He, however, had lost to Jayasawal in the second CA poll. This is the third contest between Tripathi, who started politics as a student, and Jayasawal, who made his way into politics from the farmers’ agitation.

Tripathi’s defection from RJP-N in a constituency where the party is deemed to have a sound vote base has affected the party, and is sure to affect the election result. While Tripathi is said to be counting on his chances of victory with the support of RJP-N cadres, his own supporters and the support of the left alliance, Jayasawal seemed confident about his win as long as he could secure his earlier vote base.

“As people want development and prosperity from the elected candidate, I will move ahead by devising necessary strategies for the same,” said Tripathi, who had lost by over 6,000 votes to Jayasawal in the second CA election after winning against him by a meagre margin of 163 votes in the first CA poll. On his part, Jayasawal identified himself as a farmer’s son and hoped voters would vote for him after evaluating his contribution.

Constituency No 1 comprises Bardaghat municipality, along with Susta and Pratappur rural municipality and Ward Nos 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Sarawal rural municipality. While the UML had won in the two local units here during local election, NC and Nepal Forum Democratic had garnered one seat each. The constituency has a total of 123,068 voters.