KATHMANDU: The ruling Nepali Congress held a high-level meeting on Friday morning to assess the evolving political scenario in Rupandehi-3, where a by-election for the House of Representatives is scheduled for November 3.
The meeting, held at party president Sher Bahadur Deuba’s residence in Budhanilkantha, brought together top party officials, including office-bearers, former office-bearers, and ministers in the federal government.
The discussion focused on reviewing the outcome of the 2022 general elections in the constituency and analyzing the shifting political dynamics, according to Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire.
Rupandehi district president Ramkrishna Khan and Lumbini Province party president Amar Pun were also invited to speak at the meeting. While several leaders, including former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, shared their views, Ghimire clarified that no specific names were discussed for the by-election candidacy.
“There was no talk about candidates or potential alliances. The discussion centered on evaluating the current ground reality,” Ghimire said. While some have speculated that Bal Krishna Khand could be the party’s pick again, Ghimire maintained that this was only a “possibility, not a decision.”
He also said that despite previous discussions among top leaders to support Khand’s candidacy, that topic did not come up in Friday’s meeting.
Ghimire admitted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to analyze the situation in Rupandehi-3 after seven Madhes-based parties recently formed a coalition and announced a shared candidate for the seat. The Federal Democratic Alliance, which includes parties like the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), has already decided to field NUP’s candidate in the constituency.
Rupandehi-3 became vacant following the death of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Deepak Bohora on April 1. Bohora had won the seat in 2022 with support from CPN-UML, securing 36,717 votes. Nepali Congress candidate Bal Krishna Khand was his closest rival, with 34,036 votes.
The Maoist Centre and CPN (Unified Socialist) had backed the Nepali Congress candidate at the time, while the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Jit Bahadur Gupta Teli finished third with 5,769 votes.
According to 2022 proportional vote tallies, Nepali Congress emerged as the largest party in the constituency. However, with the new alliance of seven Madhes-based parties now claiming over 8,000 combined votes based on the previous election results, Congress leaders are treading carefully.
In 2022, NUP’s Tulsi Prasad Tharu had garnered 4,751 votes, while Janamat Party’s Pramod Kumar Raut secured 3,317 votes. Both parties are now members of the new Federal Democratic Alliance, alongside other regional forces including the Janata Samajwadi Party, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Rastriya Mukti Party, Janata Pragatisheel Party, and Tarai-Madhes Loktantrik Party.
While Friday’s meeting saw some leaders express views on how to move forward, party officials said no decision on candidates or coalition strategy has yet been made.
“The emphasis was on internal unity and preparedness rather than names or reshuffles,” Ghimire added.
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