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.
