As the date for the by-election draws near, election fever has gripped Kaski.

By-election, slated for November 30, will elect a member of the Parliament from Kaski Constituency-2. The seat fell vacant after Rabindra Adhikari, elected from the constituency representing the then CPN-UML in 2017, died in a chopper crash in Taplejung, nine months ago.

There will be a major battle between the candidates of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NC) and the main opposition, Nepali Congress in this by-election. Some 21 candidates, including 10 independent, have thrown their hats into the ring in the constituency, where the then UML candidate Adhikari had eked out victory against his rival Devraj Chalise by a wide margin of 8,562 votes in the last election.

Large number of people in the district believe the communist party will win the election from the constituency this time too, mainly because of an impressive legacy left behind by the demised leader, who won three consecutive elections from here, and the sympathy his widow could get from the voters. The NCP has fielded Adhikari’s wife Bidhya Bhattarai as its candidate from the constituency.

There are, however, skeptics, who see the possibility of the constituency going to NC this time, citing the fact that Bidhya is a new face to the voters in Kaski and the popular leader Adhikari, was capable to persuade even the supporters of other parties to vote for him, was no more.

The NC has fielded its local leader Khemraj Poudel to take on the NCP candidate. Poudel, 76, who has made a reputation of an honest leader during his 60-year long service in the party, is also a candidate to reckon with, observers say.

Candidacy of Rajani KC from Sajha Party cannot be ignored either in the by-election.

A young candidate, KC, who defected from Nepali Congress recently is said to have some appeal among youngsters.

In the last election, Bibeksheel Sajha Party had secured some 800 votes from this constituency.

Bibeksheel and Sajha parties, following a splitup, have this time fielded separate candidates from the constituency in this by-election.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s Rom Bahadur Bhandari, Federal Socialist Party’s Dharmaraj Gurung, Rastriya Janamukti Party’s Purna Bahadur Rana, Desbhakta Samaj’s Bir Bahadur Bishwokarma and Mangol National Organisation’s Riyaj Gurung are also contesting the by-election. Rana Bahadur Damai, Nawaraj Bastola, Yagya Prasad Pangeni, Laxmi Kumari Bhujel are some of the candidates who are contesting the election as independent candidate.

NCP candidate Bidhya said her candidacy was for political stability, inclusive democracy and the campaign to create society based on social justice.

“Rather than distributing assurances to the people, my priority and commitment is to be a honest and committed member in the country’s parliamentary system,” she said.

NC candidate Poudel said his candidacy was born out of the need of time.

“As the country is mired in corruption, I had to come to the fray to take the country out of this swamp,” he said, adding, his priorities would be to ensure development in the constituency.

All the candidates are now involved in election campaign.

Kaski Constituency-2 comprises 11 wards and has a total of 71,871 voters.