By-election compels leaders to be loyal to voters in Bajhang

By Sailendra Rokaya,Bajhang, Apr. 19: Candidates contesting the by-election to the Sudurpashchim Provincial Assembly in Bajhang (A) are now busy visiting the voters reaching villages. The political parties have intensified the canvassing in favour of their candidates. The Election Commission is holding the by-election to the PA in Bajhang on April 27. 

As the by-election is just a week away, the parties are in haste to reach all voters. They have entered the villages with different strategies to woo the voters. 

The by-election is being held to fill up the vacant seat after the demise of PA member Prithvi Bahadur Singh in a car accident in June last year. Singh was serving as the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law of Sudurpaschim Province when he passed away. Now his mourning son Abhishek Pratap Singh clothed in white is reaching the villages seeking sympathy votes. 

He is urging the voters to cast their votes for him to complete the development activities initiated by his late father. Popular Deuda singer Nanda Krishna Joshi is accompanying Abhishek singing Deuda and asking votes for him. 

Equally busy is CPN-UML candidate Daman Bhandari. The UML leaders and cadres are also trying to convince the voters in their favour. Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate Janak Budha, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Di Bahadur Singh and RPP candidate Kishor Khadka are also reaching the voters. 

The by-election in Bajhang is expected to be highly competitive as the son of late Prithvi Bahadur, Abhishek, is popular among the voters while the CPN-UML has a strong party organisation in the district. Likewise, Maoist candidate Budha is an influential leader in the district. He was a Constituent Assembly member. 

Interestingly, both Budha and UML candidate Bhandari are from Chhabispathivara Rural Municipality, whereas CPN (Unified Socialist) leader and Federal Minister Bhanu Bhakta Joshi is also from the same rural municipality. 

Similarly, NC candidate Singh and CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dil Bahadur hail from the same ward of Jaya Prithvi Municipality. 

In the 2022 election, Prithvi Bahadur Singh, a common candidate of the NC-left alliance, was elected by garnering 17,112 votes while his closest rival UML’s Aphilal Okhda got 13,336 votes. This time, all parties are contesting the election with their separate candidates, and the NC is said to be in advantage of the situation. 

In elections held after 1990, UML candidates have won four elections while NC won three.

“After the demise of Minister Singh, NC has given the ticket to his son, and he is likely to garner sympathetic votes, but the results cannot be predicted,” said Khagendra Joshi, headmaster of Satyabadi Secondary School. 

Of the seven local levels of the constituency, NC won in four, UML in two and Maoist Centre one in the local elections held two years ago.