DADELDHURA: Karn Singh Rawal, a longtime electoral rival of Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, has passed away at the age of 84.
Rawal, who had been contesting against Deuba in every election since 1999, died on Friday morning at his residence in Amargadhi, Dadeldhura.
Originally from Mamya village in Navadurga Rural Municipality, Rawal had been living in Amargadhi Municipality and was popularly known as “Mamyal Baje”.
He stood as a candidate against Deuba in five consecutive parliamentary elections.
Interestingly, Rawal had actively campaigned for Deuba in the 1991 parliamentary elections. However, after retiring from over three decades of government service in 1997, he ran as an independent candidate against Deuba in the 1999 elections, reportedly due to dissatisfaction over a transfer dispute during his time at the Land Revenue Office.
Since then, Rawal remained committed to contesting against Deuba in every parliamentary election. In the most recent election of 2022, he secured 442 votes, while in 2017, he had received 280 votes.
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