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Chief of Sudurpaschim Province Nazir Miya has rejected contesting claims for the position of the province’s Chief Minister coming from rival factions of the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP).

On Sunday, Laxman Kishor Chaudhary of NUP’s Resham Chaudhary faction approached the province Chief’s Office staking claim for chief ministership, with support from the Nepali Congress and CPN (United Socialist). The day also saw Kailash Chaudhary of NUP’s Ranjita Shrestha faction staking claim for the position, with support from the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Center).

But the province chief was far from impressed and called the contestants to submit their claims again within two days.

In accordance with Article 168 (2) of the Constitution, Miya has given both sides till 5 pm on April 18 to submit their claims for chief ministership, Dirgharaj Bhatta, information officer at the province Chief’s Office, said. 

NUP emerged as a formidable force in Sudurpaschim through the last general elections.  Now, there are fears that an ongoing conflict between Resham Chaudhary and Shrestha—founder and chair of NUP, respectively—may end up destabilizing the five-party ruling coalition at the Center. 

The 54-member Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly has 18 members from the Congress, 11 from the Maoist Center (including the Speaker), 10 from the UML, nine from NUP, four from CPN (US), one from Rastriya Prajatantra Party and one independent member. Out of nine NUP members, two are from the Resham Chaudhary faction. As things stand, the four-party CPN (US) will have a crucial role in forming a majority government in the province.

As by-elections draw closer in Ilam-2 for House of Representatives (HoR) and in Bhajang-2 for Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly, major parties have expedited their election campaigns and top leaders are preparing to reach the constituencies to back their candidates.

This will be the second by-elections since the 2022 national elections in which the Nepali Congress emerged as the largest party while the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) polled in second and third respectively. However, the most talked about outcome of the election was the emergence of the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as the fourth largest party.

In the first by-election held in Tanahu and Chitwan in 2023, RSP candidates Swarnim Wagle and Rabi Lamichhane both registered thumping victories against the candidates fielded by major parties. So winning the Ilam-2 by-election—and winning it with a big margin—has  become a prestige issue for major parties. And it is not just prestige that is on the line for them. If the RSP candidate were to win in Ilam-2, it could very well mean game over for the big parties. 

The RSP is already popular among a large section of young urban Nepalis. If the party wins the Ilam-2 constituency, some Nepali Congress (NC) leaders say it could disrupt the voting pattern in the rest of the country in future elections. In other words, there is a high likelihood of RSP emerging as a major—if not the largest—political entity in Nepal come the next general election of 2027.

To stop the RSP, the two ruling parties UML and Maoist have forged an electoral alliance in Ilam-2. They have fielded the UML candidate, Suhang Nembang, son of late UML Vice-chairman Subas Chandra Nembang. Another ruling coalition partner, CPN (Unified Socialist), has refused to support Nembang and has come up with its own candidates. The main opposition, NC, has also fielded its own candidate in the fray.  

Cross-party leaders who just returned from Ilam predict that it is going to be a tight electoral race. 

 “There are intra-party rifts within both NC and UML, and as the voting day nears, it remains to be seen how these intra-party rifts will be managed,” says Nain Singh Mahar, a NC leader who recently visited Ilam. 

A large chunk of UML cadres are unhappy with the candidate selection in Ilam-2, stating that those who had been working for the party for a long time were sidelined. They argue that Suhang may very well be the son of a senior party leader who contested and won many elections from Ilam-2, but he doesn’t know anything about the constituency he represents. 

The Ilam-2 constituency became vacant following the death of UML Vice-chair Subas Chandra Nembang, in September last year. A total of 19 candidates—12 from different political parties and seven independents—are contesting in the by-election. 

The main contest is expected to be among UML’s Suhang Nembang, NC’s Dambar Bahadur Khadka, RSP’s Milan Limbu, and independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu Thegim.

Suhang has the support of the UML, Maoist Center and the Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav). He has been appealing to the voters to write down their needs, problems, and aspirations on paper, assuring that he and his party will fulfill them.

Meanwhile NC’s Khadka, who was edged by Subash Chandra Nembang with just 114 votes in the last general election, hopes to win this time. But in 2022, he had received votes from various coalition partners, including the Maoist Center. 

This time the Maoist party is supporting UML’s Suhang. UML and Maoist Center have signed a five-point agreement at the Koshi Province level to secure Suhang's victory. As per the agreement, the by-polls will be a stepping stone for cooperation among left forces to create a foundation for party unification in the future.

However, local UML leaders fear that all Maoist votes may not be transferred to Suhang. Also, there are fears that RSP candidate Milan Limbu, who was earlier with the Maoist Center, will get substantial Maoist votes. 

Some Maoist leaders say about a third of the party’s vote could go to RSP’s Limbu. Although traditional parties have been the major players in Ilam-2, Limbu expects a miraculous vote shift in his favor this time. RSP had received 4,686 proportional representation votes and 1,380 direct votes in 2022.

Independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu Thegim also hopes to pull off a surprise electoral victory from Ilam-2, with the support of 41 identity-based groups. He has been reaching out to voters with the agenda of strengthening federalism, identity, equal rights, peace, and sustainable development. 

Thegim has the support of Janata Samajbadi Party as well as identity-based parties like the Rastriya Janamukti Party, Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch, Nepal Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, Kirat Rai Yayokha, and social organizations, including the Kirat religious guru Atmananda Lingden.

Apart from these four candidates, Jit Bahadur Rai of CPN (Unified Socialist), Lakshmi Gurung of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Prem Kumar Thamsuhang of the Janmat Party, Shyam Bahadur Darji of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Min Bahadur Limbu of Mongol National Organization, Dhanraj Rana Magar of the National Republic Nepal, Jayant Bikram Shah of the Rastriya Mukti Andolan Nepal, and Ganesh Bahadur Chauhan from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, among others, are in the fray. 

Independent candidates Dak Prasad Gautam, Manoj Niroula, Arjun Kumar Shahi, Dipesh Bohra, Yogendra Gurung, and Raj Basyal are also contesting the election. The constituency comprises all of Chulachuli, Mangsebung and Phakphokthum rural municipalities, as well as parts of Ilam (excluding 10 wards), Deumai, and Mai municipalities. There are 115,342 voters in the constituency

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stressed that the establishment of good governance in the country could be ensured only through a successful implementation of laws.

In his address to a program on "Challenges for good governance and government's future roadmap" organized by the Institute for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR) here today, the Prime Minister underscored the need to pay special attention to the effective implementation of laws to take the country towards a path of good governance and prosperity.

"Prevention of corruption is warranted for the country's overall development, to promote the citizens' interests and establish good governance," the government head said, echoing the need to enrich anti-corruption bodies legally and with resources.                                                                                             

He announced that the government is committed to investigating any cases of corruption that took place at any time frame and seeking legal action against those responsible for such offenses.  "Good governance, social justice and prosperity are the top priorities of the incumbent government, and the establishment and promotion of the first one is in the center," he added.

The Prime Minister highlighted the essentiality of continuous collaboration and cooperation among the three tiers of government, private sector, civil society, media and the masses to bring the government policy against corruption, and for good governance into practice.

He said that the successful implementation of laws is needed to operate the governance effectively. "This will lead the country to a path of good governance and prosperity."

Sharing that a huge transformation was necessary in the policy and legal sector, Prime Minister Dahal clarified that the government was active to formulate federal acts in accordance with national resolution and necessity.

He mentioned, "The government has been making necessary preparations to forward a process to make laws and amend some laws through discussion with all parties represented in the parliament."

Underlining that scientific policy, standard and implementation of reward and punishment were necessary to ensure good governance, the Prime Minister shared that the government has been moving ahead in the process of accelerating the development of construction projects. 

"Serious discussion is underway about achievements, problems, challenges on development projects, as well as reforms in policy-level, legal, structural and working-style sectors to resolve the problems," he stressed. 

Sharing that the government would move ahead with some arrangements at the structural reforms sector in the upcoming policy, programme and budget, PM Dahal added projects would get adequate means and resources along with prioritization of development projects, as well as should be completed within slated time.

The CPN (Unified Socialist) has withdrawn support extended to Laxman Kishor Chaudhary after an agreement was signed among the four parties of the ruling coalition to make Dirgha Sodari of the Unified Socialist as the chief minister.

The CPN (US) withdrew the support after an agreement was reached among the ruling coalition parties to give chief minister to the Unified Socialist in Sudurpaschim.

CPN (US) leader Dirgha Sodari himself went to the Office of the Province Chief and withdrew the support.

On April 14, Laxman Kishor Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party had presented the claim for the post of chief minister with the support of 29 lawmakers—28 of Nepali Congress, four of CPN (US), one of Rastriya Prajatantra Party and seven of his party.

After the CPN (US) withdrew the support to Laxman Kishor, now, he will have the support of only 25 Province Assembly members.

Two out of seven members of his own party, however, have decided not to support him.

There are 52 Province Assembly members in Sudurpaschim after the demise of one. One needs the support of 27 members to be appointed as the chief minister.