KATHMANDU: Arun Kumar Chaudhary, a member of the House of Representatives (HoR) who received amnesty from former President Bidya Bhandari, has been appointed Minister of State by the current President, Ram Chandra Paudel.
Chaudhary, a member of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, was appointed Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation on Friday, following the government’s recommendation.
Chaudhary, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Kailali-2, received amnesty from former President Bidya Devi Bhandari on February 19, 2023, in commemoration of Democracy Day.
At that time, he was serving a 17-day sentence in Kailali prison after being convicted for his involvement in a tractor-burning incident in Lamki-Chuha, Kailali.
On August 19, 2009, protestors burned a tractor numbered Lu 2 211 in response to non-compliance with a strike called during the Tharuhat movement.
Three years later, the Kailali District Court sentenced Chaudhary and two others to six months in prison and ordered compensation of Rs 818,423 to the victims.
Chaudhary was arrested by police on Februay 2, 2023, in Nepalgunj, Banke, for failing to serve his six-month prison sentence.
A case was filed against him in the District Court Kailali by CPN-UML leader Mahadev Bajgai, who alleged that the tractor was burned on August 18, 2010.
Chaudhary contested the mayoral election for Lamkichuha Municipality in 2074 BS, running against Bajgai, the owner of the burned tractor.
He was convicted by the court before the local elections. Despite this, Bajgai did not pursue further action, stating that the court’s decision should be respected, even though it impacted the election.
Following his election to the House of Representatives, Chaudhary expressed surprise at the timing of his arrest, suggesting that it was related to his new position.
He claimed that no one cared about his legal issues from the time of his mayoral candidacy to his parliamentary victory.
In the 2079 BS House of Representatives elections, Chaudhary won from Kailali-2 with 21,871 votes, defeating UML candidate Jhapta Bahadur Rawal, who received 16,128 votes.
The Maoist Center candidate Bhagat Bahadur Baduwal, supported by the Nepali Congress and CPN United Socialist Party, came in third with 15,116 votes.
Chaudhary had previously contested the 2074 local elections for Lamki-Chuha Municipality as a candidate for the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (Loktantrik). He finished third in that race, with Bajgai winning the mayoralty with 7,088 votes, while Chaudhary garnered 6,222 votes, and Congress candidate Bhakta Bahadur Thapa came second with 6,521 votes.
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