Kathmandu: Voting has begun in Nepal’s federal and provincial assembly elections. Here are some pointers covering the big picture.
How many candidates are in the fray: According to the Election Commission of Nepal, altogether 2,412 candidates – 2,187 men and just 225 women – are vying for parliamentary seats. Various PR seats are reserved for women, Dalits, those belonging to indigenous nationalities, the khas arya, the Madhesi, Tharus, Muslims and those belonging to the underprivileged regions.
What is the sales pitch of the rival alliances: Sunday’s election will be a two-horse race between the six-party group led by the ruling Nepali Congress and the coalition led by the main opposition, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). Two communist parties—CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist) and a Madhes-centric party Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) led by Mahantha Thakur—have allied with the Nepali Congress in the ruling party’s electoral alliance. This combine is also known as the ‘democratic left alliance’. On the other hand, monarchist and Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Prajantantra Party led by Kamal Thapa and Madhes-centric Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) led by Upendra Yadav are allies in the CPN (UML)’s electoral alliance. The strange partnership of the hard-Left and the royalists is giving the opposition its “regressive” label. As Madhes-centric regional parties failed to come together for polls, traditional parties the Nepali Congress and UML are likely to increase their electoral grounds in southeastern Madhes Province which shares socio-cultural affinities with India.
Who is likely to become Nepal’s next prime minister: Deuba, the incumbent prime minister and president of the grand old party Nepali Congress, hopes to make a comeback by winning elections, according to party insiders. This is Deuba’s fifth term as prime minister and seeks to return to power by keeping the present ruling alliance intact. Another aspirant for the country’s top executive post is Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center), who waged revolt against the state (1996-2006). In his pre-election public speeches, albeit diplomatically, Prachanda has said numerous times that he wouldn’t hesitate to become prime minister again if the people wanted him to come back. He became the country’s prime minister in 2008 and 2016.
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