KATHMANDU: The Shram Sanskriti Party, led by Harka Sampang, has secured victories in three constituencies in the ongoing House of Representatives election, placing the party in fifth position and raising the possibility of it becoming a national party.
Party chairman Harkaraj Rai won from Sunsari-1, securing 34,741 votes. His closest rival, Goma Tamang of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), received 27,249 votes.
Tamang had narrowly lost the 2022 parliamentary election by 446 votes to Ashok Rai of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).
The party also recorded a significant victory in Bhojpur, where Dhruvaraj Rai defeated UML Secretary Sherdhan Rai. Dhruvaraj secured 16,663 votes, while Sherdhan received 14,750 votes.
Similarly, Aren Rai won from Khotang-1 with 16,612 votes, defeating UML candidate Dev Bikram Rai, who secured 12,714 votes. Aren Rai is considered one of the young candidates emerging from Koshi Province.
The results indicate that the Shram Sanskriti Party has performed strongly in several areas of Koshi Province. The party had fielded candidates in 109 of the country’s 165 constituencies.
According to the latest vote count, the Rastriya Swatantra Party has emerged as the largest party so far with 118 seats, while the Nepali Congress has secured 17 seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) has won seven seats and is leading in three others, while the Nepal Communist Party has secured seven seats and leads in one constituency.
Meanwhile, the Shram Sanskriti Party has won three seats but is not leading in any other constituencies, making further direct victories unlikely.
In the proportional representation vote count, however, the party has secured 71,571 votes so far. With vote counting still ongoing nationwide, observers say the party still has a chance of crossing the threshold required to be recognized as a national party.
Comment