Four candidates have expressed their interest to contest the upcoming by-election in Rupandehi Constituency No. 3 from the CPN (UML) party.
According to the expanded meeting of the UML Rupandehi-3 Regional Coordination Committee held on Friday, only four aspirants—all men—have come forward to vie for the candidacy. However, the party had earlier instructed that three names, including at least one woman, be recommended for the final selection.
The aspirants include:
- Khimlal Bhattarai, Politburo member and in-charge of the constituency
- Hari Adhikari, former mayor of Siddharthanagar Municipality
- Businessman Shashi Paudel
- Yagya Jit Shah from Bhairahawa
During the meeting, the aspirants requested the party center to consider their names for nomination.
The by-election is scheduled for Kartik 17 (early November), and the party center has set a deadline of Bhadra 15 (late August) for submitting aspirants’ names.
Party Central Committee has directed that the final recommendation include two men and one woman. Chairman Yagya Gaire said the regional committee will propose three names with opinions and forward them to the party center after receiving any further names from the district committee.
According to UML’s party rules, the regional committee forwards recommendations to the district committee, which can add or remove names before sending them with opinions to the provincial committee. The provincial committee then forwards the final list to the center, which makes the final decision on the candidate.
In the 2079 (2022) general election, UML had supported Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s Dipak Bohara, who was elected from this constituency. The seat became vacant after Bohara’s death on Chaitra 19, 2081 (early 2025). The by-election for this constituency is scheduled for Kartik 17.
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