Raswapa Removes Kusum Maharjan from Proportional List for Rupandehi-3 By-election

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has removed Kusum Maharjan from its proportional representation list as she prepares to run in the Rupandehi-3 by-election. The party will begin candidate selection after the application deadline on Wednesday.

Roshan Shrestha
Roshan Shrestha
Kusum Maharjan, central member of Rastriya Swatantra Party, speaking at a party meeting after withdrawing from proportional representation list to contest Rupandehi-3 by-election.
Kusum Maharjan, central member of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, has withdrawn her name from the party’s proportional representation list to contest the Rupandehi-3 by-election scheduled for Kartik 17. The party’s Secretariat approved her request and will notify the Election Commission.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (Raswapa) has decided to take Kusum Maharjan’s name off its proportional representation election list. This decision came after Maharjan asked to withdraw her name, which the party’s Secretariat approved during a meeting on Tuesday.

They have also informed the Election Commission about this, said party Deputy General Secretary Bipinkumar Acharya. Maharjan wants to run in the by-election for Rupandehi-3, set for Kartik 17. Since election rules don’t allow someone on the proportional representation list to run in direct elections, she had to remove her name.

Party insiders say this wasn’t just her personal choice—it was a decision made together with party leaders. Acharya also mentioned that the deadline for applying to be a candidate in Rupandehi-3 is Wednesday at 5 PM. Once the applications are in, the party will know how many people are interested and will start the candidate selection process.

Maharjan is from Siddharth Municipality-8. She has worked with several non-governmental organizations and currently lives in Kathmandu. She has shown interest in officially becoming the candidate.

The party has put Deputy General Secretary and Lumbini Province In-charge Bipinkumar Acharya in charge of all the work related to the Rupandehi-3 by-election. He is leading a task force that has set the rules for choosing the candidate.

With these moves, Raswapa is aiming to build a stronger presence in Rupandehi-3 and protect the party’s interests in the upcoming by-election.

Roshan Shrestha

Written by Roshan Shrestha

Roshan Shrestha is a Nepali investigative journalist and founder of Khoj Samachar, covering corruption, transparency, and public-interest issues.