43 Candidates in Race for 17 National Assembly Seats

Provincial assembly members and local-level chiefs and deputy chiefs voted on Sunday, January 25, to elect 17 members to the National Assembly (NA).

A total of 43 candidates are contesting the seats in the Upper House of Nepal’s federal parliament. Voting took place at designated polling centres in the provincial capitals of all seven provinces.

The terms of 19 NA members expire on March 4, 2025. Elections were held for 17 of those seats as one seat under the Khas Arya category in Koshi Province was filled uncontested.  Nepali Congress candidate Sunil Bahadur Thapa was elected unopposed.

One additional member will be nominated by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

Voting continued from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, said Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai.

Article 86(3) of the Constitution requires that NA elections be held at least 35 days before the expiry of a member’s term. A new member is elected by voters from the same province where the seat becomes vacant.

Eligible voters include provincial assembly members, mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities, and chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of rural municipalities.

Under the weighted voting system, provincial assembly members carry a vote value of 53, while local-level chiefs and deputy chiefs carry a value of 19.

The Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Janata Samajbadi Party–Nepal have formed an electoral alliance for the elections. The Congress leadership elected through its special general convention has endorsed the arrangement.

Under the seat-sharing deal, the Nepali Congress fielded candidates for nine seats, the CPN-UML for eight, and JSP-Nepal for one.

The Nepali Communist Party has fielded candidates for all 17 contested seats.

(With inputs from RSS)