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Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula is looking to make a political comeback by securing a National Assembly seat. Having lost two consecutive general elections of 2017 and 2022, the former home minister seems eager to wear the parliamentarian’s tag. 

The election for 19 new upper house members is set to take place next week and Sitaula’s victory is almost certain, thanks to a strategic electoral alliance within the ruling coalition. Sitaula, whose influence in national as well as party politics has been waning of late, managed to clinch the NA candidacy due to his closeness with the NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba. 

Despite differing opinions within the NC on the election candidates, consensus among top leaders of the ruling parties solidified Sitaula’s position in the upper house. Even Deuba’s rivals in the Congress party, Gagan Kumar Thapa and Shekhar Koirala, are rallying behind Sitaula, hailing it as an exceptional decision. Earlier, Thapa and Koirala were critical of Sitaula’s candidacy. They were in favor of fielding new faces, preferably experts on some fields, to honor the spirit of the NA as envisioned by the Constitution of Nepal, 2015.  

The buzz is that Sitaula’s entry into the federal parliament is not just a personal victory; it’s a strategic move made by the NC leadership to fortify the constitution against mounting challenges from royalist and anti-federal forces.

Whispers of Sitaula taking the reins as the chair of the upper house are also getting louder. Sources say that both CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have thrown their support behind Sitaula, putting an end to their claims for the coveted position. The term of incumbent NA chairman, Ganesh Prasad Timalsina, is ending in April.

Sitaula’s bid to enter the national assembly despite previous election setbacks has piqued the interest of many. After losing the 2017 and 2022 general elections to Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden from Jhapa constituency 3, Sitaula was relegated to the margins of national politics. Though he enjoyed the title of a senior leader within the Congress party, his role and influence were limited.

Afraid that he could completely lose his relevance inside the party and national politics, Sitaula, who once harbored the ambition of leading the NC, got close to the party president, Deuba. In the meantime, he continued to maintain a good rapport with the top leaders of other major parties, mainly Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Center. 

According to Sitaula, his candidacy is all about ensuring the complete implementation of the new constitution and safeguarding the rights of the people. 

Starting as a low-profile figure in the party after the restoration of democracy in 1990, Sitaula emerged as a key player during the peace negotiations with Maoist rebels. His alliance with then NC President Girija Prasad Koirala catapulted him into the national political arena, eventually leading to roles as deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs.

Sitaula’s moment to shine came as one of the chief negotiators of peace with the Maoist rebel group. His role in bringing the Maoists into mainstream politics was widely praised.  

After the success of Janaandolan-2, Koirala appointed Sitaula as deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs which further elevated his profile in national politics and inside the party. This also increased his political ambition and started projecting himself as the Koirala’s successor, ahead of other senior leaders including Deuba, Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel. He even contested for the position of party president, only to lose the election with a huge margin.

It is no secret that Situala, who has lost his influence and supporters in the party, has only managed to maintain his relevance with Deuba’s support. Now Deuba’s support is set to land him the post of the upper house chair.

The filing of nominations for the National Assembly election scheduled for January 25 is taking place today.

The nomination papers of the candidates are to be registered at the Office of Returning Officer established in the capitals of all seven provinces from 10 am to 3 pm today.

Spokesperson of the Election Commission Shaligram Sharma Poudel informed that all necessary preparation and responsibilities to be placed prior to the registration of nomination has been over.

The province assembly members, chairpersons and vice chairpersons of rural municipalities and mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities are the voters in the NA member election.

As per the legal provision, 549 province assembly members and 2047 local level leaders (mayor/chair and deputy mayor/vice-chairperson) have been enlisted in the voters' roll.

The vote weight of provincial assembly members has been fixed at 53 and that of chiefs and deputy chiefs of municipalities/rural municipalities at 19. The total vote weight of provincial assembly members is 29,097 and that of chiefs and deputy chiefs is 28,462.

According to the Election Commission, the final list of voters has already been published on Sunday.

The nomination list will be published on January 9 while the final list of candidates will be published on January 12 after completing the process of protest and complaint against candidates and probe.

The candidates will be provided with election symbols on January 13. One polling station and two polling centers have been set up in each province for the election.

Voting will take place from 9 am to 3 pm on January 25. The term of one-third of the 59-member National Assembly is completed every two years. Women, Dalits, persons with disabilities or minorities and members from other communities will be elected from different provinces and regions in this election.

The ruling coalition has finalized the sharing of seats for the National Assembly election.

A meeting of the ruling coalition held in Baluwatar on Sunday finalized the seat-sharing for the election.

According to which, Nepali Congress will get 10, CPN (Maoist Center) six, CPN (Unified Socialist) two, and Janata Samajbadi Party will get one seat.

After the meeting, Nepali Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said that the sharing of seats has been finalized among the ruling coalition parties.

He said that the cluster has been finalized in many places and it will be finalized in some places soon.

With the agreement on seat distribution, the parties are preparing to finalize the name of the candidates by holding internal discussions.

According to a source, CPN (US) Chairman Nepal demanded three seats for his party.

But Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had said that two seats can only be given to his party.

Though Congress leader Lekhak said that there was an agreement, the leaders of the CPN (US) are not happy with the seat distribution.

Filing of nominations for the election to the National Assembly will be held on Monday. The final list of voters is being published today.

The National Assembly election for 19 seats has been scheduled for January 25.

Twenty members of the National Assembly, the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, including Chair Ganesh Prasad Timilsina are retiring on March 4, 2024.

The National Assembly has 59 members and the six-year term of one-third of them is ending on March 4. They belong to the group of members whose term was determined through a draw for the first time after the formation of the Assembly in 2074 BS.

Also called the Elders' House, the National Assembly plays an important role in enriching the bills and legislations, holding rich discussions and giving its feedback, suggestion and advice on the decisions of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of parliament. The Assembly which is alleged of becoming only the shadow of the Lower House has, however, sometimes sent messages to the HoR calling for review on some important bills.

Those members whose term is terminating on coming March 4 include Anita Devkota, Jitendra Narayan Dev, Prakash Pantha and Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi of the Nepali Congress, Indu Kadariya, Deepa Gurung, Dil Kumari Rawal, Kumar Dasaundi, Narapati Luwar, Bhairab Sundar Shrestha and Ram Chandra Rai of the CPN (UML) and Bina Pokharel, Mahesh Kumar Mahara and Hariram Chaudhary of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Pramila Kumari of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), Nanda Chapain and Singa Bahadur Bishwakarma of the CPN (Unified Socialist), Dr Khim Lal Devkota (Independent) and Dr Bimala Paudyal who was nominated by the President.

Among them, Dasaundi and Dr Devkota had been elected from the by-election held on February 8, 2023 for the remaining term after the resignation of Ram Bahadur Thapa and Khimlal Bhattarai.  

The term of all the National Assembly members, whose tenure was determined for two, four and six years through lottery system for the first time after the formation of the Assembly in 2074 BS, is expiring on March 4, 2024. Among them, eight belong to the CPN-UML, four to Nepali Congress, three to Maoist Center, two to Unified Socialist and one to JSP while one each is an independent and nominated.

Meanwhile, the election to pick new members will be held in January.