Dhangadi, October 25

Only three female candidates have been fielded for the House of Representatives and provincial assembly polls slated for November 26 from Province 7.

Of the total 63 candidates in the province, only three female candidates have filed their candidacies from Bajhang district in the province. No female candidate was nominated in other districts of the province.

Rastriya Janamorcha’s Kalpana Bhandari registered her candidacy for the parliamentary seat in Bajhang.

Likewise, NC’s Chandradevi Joshi and CPN-Maoist Centre’s Devaki Malla filed their nominations for provincial assembly polls in Bajhang-A and Bajhang-B respectively.

In the first phase, elections are being held in Bajura, Bajhang, Darchula and Baitadi districts. The election will elect four lawmakers for House of Representatives and eight for the provincial assembly in the four districts.

As many as 23 candidates are in the fray for four seats of the House of Representatives. Likewise, 40 candidates are vying for eight seats at the provincial assembly.

NC Kailali leader Jagriti Bogati said that despite the sweet talk of inclusion and women-friendly policy, parties had lagged behind in practice. Bogati said women leaders had failed to get tickets as they could not put their views strongly inside their respective parties.