KATHMANDU: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) leader Rajendra Lingden has been elected the party Chairman defeating his rival candidate Kamal Thapa.
Lingden, who is the only lawmaker representing his party in the House of Representatives, won with 200 more votes than his rival Kamal Thapa. Lingden won the election with 1,817 votes while his contender Thapa got 1,617 votes.
Not surprisingly, Lingden’s political ascendancy met stiff opposition, including from outgoing Chairman Kamal Thapa, who questioned his maturity and experience.
When Lingden contested as the party Chairman, some had argued that a young leader should first gain some experiences.
Elections were held for 148 central members including four Vice-Chairmen and three General Secretaries.
Another candidate and outgoing Chairman Thapa has said that he would accept the defeat.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, he congratulated Lingden on winning the chairmanship.
“I heartily accept the defeat in the election for the post of RPP chairperson, embracing democratic values and beliefs. Congratulations and best wishes to the newly elected Chairman Rajendra Lingden. I am grateful to all the friends of the party who have faith and trust in us even in adverse circumstances,” Thapa tweeted.
Thapa has, meanwhile, blamed former king Gyanendra Shah for his defeat alleging Nirmal Niwas for “interfering” in the party against him.
There is an arrangement that an elected party Chairman can nominate including seven Joint General Secretaries, treasurer, joint treasurer, Spokesperson and Joint Spokesperson of the party.
Dhawal Shamsher elected RPP General Secretary
Meanwhile, Dhawal Shamsher Rana has been elected as the General Secretary of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
Rana is close to newly-elected RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden.
Rana was elected with 2,221 votes.
Bhuvan Pathak and Kunti Kumari Shahi of Thapa panel have won in the remaining two of the three General Secretaries.
Pathak got 1705 votes and Shahi got 2008 votes.
Similarly, Bikram Pandey, Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, Buddhiman Tamang and Roshan Karki have been elected as RPP Vice Presidents.
Pandey got 2521 votes, Pradhan 1814 votes, Tamang 1944 votes and Karki got 1589 votes.
According to the Election Committee, 506 out of 4,379 delegates did not participate in the voting.
The voting, which began at around 12 noon on Saturday had ended at around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Who is Rajendra Lingden?
Rajendra Linden was born in 2022 BS in Amarpur of Panchthar district.
Lingden’s popularity heightened when he defeated influential Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula in the 2074 BS election from Jhapa.
He hails from Haldibari Rural Municipality-1 of Jhapa.
His political journey started in 2036 BS when he joined the Nationalist Independent Students’ Union.
In 2047 BS, he became the Jhapa District Secretary of RPP.
He became the founding president of RPP’s student organization (National Democratic Students’ Organization) in 2049 BS.
He also became the ward chairman twice from the then Goldhap VDC ward no. 3 in the local body election.
From 2061 to 2063 BS, he also became the chairman of the DDC Jhapa district.
Linden, who lost the second Constituent Assembly election in 2070 BS, remained in the spotlight after defeating influential Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula in the 2074 House of Representatives election.
Lingden has been elected as an MP from Jhapa Constituency No. 3.