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The Nepali Communist Party (NCP) has decided not to include the names of the leaders, who already became lawmakers and ministers, in the proportional representation list of the House of Representatives. 

As per the consensus reached among the top leaders of the party, the names of party leaders, who already have served as lawmakers under the first-past-the-post election or proportional representation system as well as member of the National Assembly, would not be included in the proportional list, shared Chief Secretary of the NCP, Ganesh Man Pun. 

As per the election schedule, the political parties participating in the March 5 elections to the House of Representatives have to submit the closed list under the PR system by this afternoon. 

The political parties have to submit the closed list for 110 seats under the PR system.

Two popular leaders have formed an alliance ahead of March parliamentary elections in Nepal that will challenge the older parties which have dominated the Himalayan nation's politics for over three decades, party officials and analysts said on Monday, Reuters reported. 

Rapper turned-Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, known as Balen, a popular elected official, joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) or national independent party, led by a former TV host-turned politician Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday, party officials said.

They said under the agreement with RSP, 35-year old Balen will become the prime minister if the RSP wins the March 5 elections while Lamichhane, 48, will remain the party chief.

Both have vowed to address the demands raised during the "Gen Z" or youth-led protests against widespread corruption in September in which 77 people were killed and led to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigning, according to Reuters. 

Political parties, including major ones, are preparing to submit their closed lists of candidates for the Proportional Representation (PR) system under the House of Representatives (HoR) election–2082 BS today, which is the second and final day for submission.

According to the schedule released by the Election Commission (EC), the submission of PR lists began on Sunday. 

While several smaller parties submitted their lists on the first day, major parties such as the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML,  Nepali Communist Party (NCP), and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are expected to submit their lists today. These parties have scheduled internal meetings before formally approaching the EC.

Political parties must submit supporting documents along with the lists, including confirmation that candidates’ names appear on the voter list, their voter ID numbers, and copies of citizenship certificates.

EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that scrutiny of the lists submitted on December 28 and 29 will take place from December 30 to January 4. If corrections are required, parties will be allowed to make adjustments between January 5 and 11. Verification of the lists will be conducted from January 12 to 17. The preliminary closed list will be published on January 18, while the final list is scheduled for publication on February 3.

A total of 100 political parties, using 93 election symbols, have applied to participate in the PR system. Each party is required to submit a list containing between 11 and 110 candidates.

For the HoR elections scheduled for March 5, the number of registered voters stands at 18,903,689. Voters will cast their votes using two separate ballots: one for the direct election and another for the proportional representation system.

The Election Commission (EC) has determined the maximum amount that a candidate can spend for the National Assembly (NA) election.

The EC stated that a candidate for the NA election can spend up to Rs 350,000. As set by the EC spending limit, Rs 70,000 could be spent for vehicle rent, Rs 10,000 for fuel, Rs 1,500 for publicity materials and others.

Likewise, the other costs include Rs 10,000 for transportation, Rs 100,000 for seminar and interaction programs and Rs 14,500 for printing and electronic media.

The EC mentioned that Rs 70,000 could be spent for office management, Rs 30,000 for representative mobilization and Rs 30,000 for miscellaneous items.

The NA election is scheduled to take place on January 25, 2026.

The EC has also asked the candidates to open a separate bank account in banks and financial institutions for the NA election purpose and a responsible person should be named for the spending during the election.

After the completion of the poll, the candidates should submit the election cost to the EC as per the NA Member Election Act, 2075 BS.