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Basanta Kumar Nembang of the CPN-UML has been elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Panchthar. He surpassed Nepali Congress candidate Bhishma Raj Aangdembe by 47 votes.  Nembang garnered 32,110 votes while Aangdembe got 32,063. Nembang was elected the HoR member from Panchthar in the parliamentary elections in 2048 BS, 2056 BS and 2074 BS also. Born on March 21, 1962 in Phidim of Panchthar, Nembang was appointed the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport for 18 months in 2076 BS. Meanwhile, Kamal Prasad Jabegu of the CPN (Unified Socialist), the common candidate of the ruling alliance, has won the Province Assembly (PA) member seat from Panchthar-1. He secured 16,837 votes. His nearest competitor Raj Kumar Bhandari of CPN (UML) got 16,204 votes. Similarly, Indra Kumar Angbo of CPN (Maoist Centre), the common candidate of the ruling alliance, has been elected as a Province Assembly member from Panchthar PA-2. Angbo secured 15,672 votes while his closest contender Aindra Sundar Nembang of the UML got 12,605 votes. The Election Commission said that 34, 365 votes were cast in this constituency.

CPN (Maoist Center) candidate Aman Lal Modi has emerged victorious from Morang-4. He defeated his closest contender Binod Dhakal of CPN-UML by a huge margin of 6, 149 votes. Modi secured 30, 612 votes while Dhakal garnered 24, 463 votes. This is the third time that he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan won the election to the House of Representatives from West Nawalparasi-2. Former Inspector General of Nepal Police (IGP) Pradhan defeated Nepali Congress candidate Devendra Raj Kandel by a huge margin of 15, 365 votes. Pradhan secured 34, 759 votes while former Home State Minister Kandel garnered 19, 594 votes. Similarly, CPN-UML’s Dipendra Kumar Adhikari got 14, 498 votes.

Nepali Congress' candidate Binod Kumar Chaudhary has been elected as a member of the House of Representatives (HoR), the lower house of the federal parliament, from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta West)-1. He secured 29,495 votes, defeating his nearest competitor Hridayesh Tripathi, the candidate from Janata Pragatisheel Party, by a margin of 7,178 votes. Tripathi got 22,308 votes, informed Sujata Khatri, the District Election Officer. A noted industrialist and businessman, Chaudhary became a member of Parliament in the first Constituent Assembly Election in 2064 BS and the parliamentary election of 2074 BS from the proportional representation quota. He was picked as MP in 2064 BS by CPN-UML and by the Nepali Congress in 2074 BS elections. Mahendra Sen Thakuri of Rastriya Swatantra Party garnered 12,599 votes and Gulab Prasad Chaudhary of Janamat Party got 5,944.

Nepal has successfully conducted its parliamentary and provincial assembly elections. Except for some incidents of violence and one death in Bajura district, the November 20 polls were held in a free and fair manner. And as the election results are trickling in, there is some information that can be gleaned from there. Through their ballots, voters are trying to give a loud and clear message to the traditional political parties that their three-decade of dominance could be over. Surely, the old established parties have realized this. That there was just 61 percent turnout in this election—the lowest since 2008—itself suggests that the people are gradually losing their faith in the power of the ballot. Low voter participation does not bode well for democracy’s future, but one can still see hope in the fact that new parties and independent candidates are becoming increasingly popular. They have posed an immense challenge to the so-called heavyweights candidates of old political parties. At the time of writing, several independent and new party candidates are ahead of the old-timers in vote count. In some cases, they have already clinched victory. The takeaway here is that people, mostly urban youths, are frustrated with old faces. They want to see a new set of leaders at the helm of politics. True, the two oldest parties, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, are unlikely to face a major loss in this election, but they can no longer remain complacent. They must either mend their ways or move aside. This is the message voters have conveyed to the big parties this election. A growing number of voters are unwilling to tolerate the non-performance of traditional parties. The election will most likely produce a hung parliament and a coalition government will be formed. So it is important for the incoming government, its partners and elected representatives to come to a consensus to form a stable government for the next five years. They should also commit to allow the parliament to complete its full five-year term. The new parties and independent candidates also have an important role to play. They have been placed in the position from where they can make a real change. They should honor the will of voters and not let them down.

A second-half brace by Richarlison, including a stunning overhead scissor kick, gave tournament favourites Brazil a 2-0 win over Serbia in their opening World Cup game at the Lusail Stadium on Thursday, Hindustan Times reported. The record five-time winners had toiled at times in the first half but they exploded into relentless attack in the second half and their effots were rewarded when Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison followed in to score the opener in the 62nd minute when a Vinicius Junior shot was saved. Vinicius then set up Richarlison to score again in the 73rd minute with a stunning acrobatic effort that is surely the goal of the World Cup so far.

Cristiano Ronaldo wrote his name in the record books as he became the first player to score in five World Cups after converting a penalty against Ghana in Portugal's opening Group H match at the Stadium 974 on Thursday, The Times of India reported.

Portugal survived a nervous nine minutes of stoppage time to edge past the African side 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.

Portugal dominated the first half completely but failed to break the deadlock and went into the halftime break at 0-0 against Ghana. Ronaldo broke the stalemate with a penalty conversion in the 65th minute, his 118th international goal for Portugal. Ghana skipper

Andre Ayew scored an equaliser in the 73rd minute, but two quick goals from Joao Felix (78th minute) and substitute Rafael Leao (80th minute) put Portugal back on the top.

Just when all looked in favour of Portugal, Osman Bukari scored a goal for Ghana a minute before the regulation time to put pressure on the European side. Portugal then survived a nervous nine minutes of stoppage time to open their campaign with a win.

Most of the action was condensed into a short period after the 60th minute with Portugal taking the lead when awarded a soft penalty after Ronaldo went down following minimal shoulder-to-shoulder contact with Mohammed Salisu.

Ronaldo closed his eyes as he waited to begin his run up, stuttered and smashed the ball into the net to the keeper's right, according to The Times of India.

Ghana fired back quickly though when Mohammed Kudus's cross found its way to Ayew who tapped home.

Portugal then revved into gear with Felix latching onto a Bruno Fernandes through ball and lifting his finish nonchalantly over the keeper.

Fernandes was the architect of their third goal too, playing another superb through ball for substitute Leao to slide his finish across the keeper and into the bottom corner.

There was tension at the end, however, as Ghana pulled another goal back with Osman Bukari heading a cross from the left in the 89th minute. Portugal, who now top the group with three points, next face Uruguay on Monday, when Ghana play South Korea.

 

Uruguay defender Diego Godin and midfielder Federico Valverde hit the woodwork as the South Americans were held to a 0-0 draw by South Korea in their opening World Cup Group H game, Aljazeera reported. Wearing a black mask to protect a facial fracture, Son Heung-min started for the South Koreans on Thursday, yet it was teammate Hwang Ui-jo who came closest to breaking the deadlock, but he scooped his shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

Valverde fired a stinging shot in the final minute of regulation time that hit the top of the post as the two sides battled to a stalemate in front of a crowd of 41,663, with group rivals Portugal set to meet Ghana later in the evening.