The alliance of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal has formally registered its candidacy for the upcoming National Assembly election. In Gandaki Province, where two National Assembly seats are becoming vacant, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML agreed to divide the seats equally and registered one candidate each.
The CPN-UML nominated Smarana Devkota of Gorkha under the women’s quota, while the Nepali Congress fielded Dr. Jagat Timilsina from Tanahun. Both candidates visited the Election Office on Wednesday and completed the nomination process.
Several senior leaders and party workers were present during the filing of nominations, including Nepali Congress leader and Gandaki Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey and CPN-UML Secretary Khagaraj Adhikari.
Dr. Timilsina, the Nepali Congress candidate for the National Assembly, currently serves as the central president of the party-affiliated professors’ association. His name had not appeared in the list of 50 candidates earlier recommended by the Nepali Congress Gandaki Province Committee.
The party’s Executive Committee later decided to nominate him as the official candidate from Gandaki Province.
Past Election Losses and Other Party Nominations
CPN-UML candidate Smarana Devkota has faced repeated defeats in previous elections. She had contested the National Assembly election in 2080 BS (2023/24 AD) but was defeated at a time when the Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre were in alliance.
Earlier, Devkota lost the deputy mayoral race in Gorkha Municipality during the 2074 BS (2017 AD) local elections. She also contested the mayoral post in the 2079 BS (2022 AD) local elections but was defeated again.
This time, however, with the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML forming an alliance, both candidates are widely expected to win the National Assembly election.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Communist Party has nominated Kapil Lama from Manang and Goma Ghimire ‘Ruchi’ from Kaski as its candidates. The Gandaki Province Election Office confirmed that both have also completed the nomination process.
