KATHMANDU, January 25: Voting for the National Assembly (NA) elections concluded on Sunday, with candidates from the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) emerging victorious under a pre-election alliance, while other parties failed to secure seats.
Of the 18 seats up for grabs, the NC fielded candidates for nine seats, the UML for eight, and the LSP for one and the result came exactly as per their agreement. A total of 19 NA seats are becoming vacant on March 4. With one member to be nominated by the President upon the government’s recommendation, 18 seats were to be filled through elections.
As per the results, the Nepali Congress won nine seats, the CPN-UML secured eight, and the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party won one seat.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party did not participate in the voting. Party spokesperson Mohan Shrestha said the party remained focused on the March 5 House of Representatives (HoR) election and therefore stayed away from the NA polls. A number of lawmakers and local-level representatives from other parties also didn’t participate in the voting.
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In Koshi Province, Sunil Bahadur Thapa of NC was elected unopposed, while Roshan Meche and Somanath Portel of the CPN-UML emerged victorious. In Madhes Province, Dhamendra Paswan and Ranjit Karn of the NC were elected alongside Mahanta Thakur of the LSP and Rekha Kumari Jha of the CPN-UML.
Bagmati Province elected Geeta Devkota of the NC and Prem Prasad Dangal. In Gandaki Province, Samjhana Devkota of the CPN-UML and Jagat Timilsina of NC were elected.
From Lumbini Province, Basudev Jungali and Chandra Bahadur KC of NC won National Assembly seats, along with Ram Kumari Jhakri of the CPN-UML. In Karnali Province, Lalit Jung Shahi of NC and Mina Singh Rakhal of the UML emerged victorious. Sudurpaschim Province elected Leela Kumari Bhandari of UML and Khamma Bahadur Khati of NC.
According to the Election Commission (EC), voter turnout stood at 95.68 percent. Voting took place from 9 am to 3 pm, followed immediately by vote counting and the announcement of results.
The NA is the upper house of Nepal’s federal parliament and consists of 59 members. Of them, 56 are elected and three are nominated by the President on the government’s recommendation.
NA elections are held through an indirect electoral system every two years for one third retiring members to ensure the continuity of the Upper House.
Voters are provincial assembly members and local-level representatives, including mayors, deputy mayors, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of rural municipalities. Ordinary citizens do not vote in these elections.
Each province elects eight members to the upper house of parliament, while three members are nominated at the federal level. The eight elected members from each province must include three women, one Dalit, one person with disabilities or from a minority group, and three from other categories.
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