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Eighteen female candidates including two independents are in the electoral fray from Sudurpashchim Province in the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives.

There are 16 House of Representatives electoral constituencies in the nine districts of this province. 

Although women's candidacy is low in the seven hilly districts of the province, there is significant participation of women candidates in Kailali and Kanchanpur among the Tarai districts.

According to Dilip Bhat, spokesperson of the Provincial Election Office, the highest number of female candidates is in Kailali where 11 female candidates are contesting, followed by Kanchanpur, and one woman in Doti is preparing for the upcoming elections.

Out of a total of 210 candidates in Sudurpaschim Province, one person's candidacy has been cancelled, and he mentioned that three people have withdrawn their candidacy.

Among the female candidates in Kanchanpur constituency-1, Bina Magar from the Nepali Communist Party, Sita BK from the Aam Janata Party, and Manjudevi Sunar and Rupadevi Bista as independents have filed their candidacy, spokesperson Bhat added.

Similarly, Premwati Rana from Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal in Kanchanpur Constituency- 2 and Lakshmi Kumari Bista (Bhatta) from the Janata Party in Constituency-3 are in the electoral race. 

Likewise, Rupakumari Chaudhary from the Janata Party, Komal Gyawali from the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Sunita Bhandari from the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party are contesting the election in Kailali Constituency-1.

In constituency-2, Samjhana Bista Thapa of Miteri Party Nepal and Laxmi Pun Magar of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party have filed their candidacy. In Kailali constituency-3, Sushila Thapa Magar of Miteri Party Nepal and Junu Mahtara Shahi of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party are busy campaigning as candidates.

In the Kailali Electoral Constituency-4, Amrita Bhul of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, in Constituency-5, Radhika Kumari Karki from the Miteri Party Nepal, Shobhamani Joshi from the National People's Front and Trishna Punmagar from the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party are contesting.

There is only one female candidate in Doti, one of the seven hill districts of the Sudurpaschim Province. Saraswati Kumari Pal (Malla) of the Miteri Party Nepal has filed her candidacy from here.

The Provincial Election Office has stated that there are a total of 1,716,660 voters in Sudurpaschim Province.

A public holiday has been declared across the Sudurpaschim Province today on the occasion of the Bhuwa parba or festival. 

Bhuwa parba is an original and historic cultural festival observed in the province.

The Sudurpaschim Province Government today decided to close all government offices and public institutions in the province to celebrate the festival.

This festival, which is celebrated with special significance particularly in Bajura, Bajhang and Achham, is associated with the legend of the Mahabharata epic during the Dwapara Yuga. 

According to religious beliefs, this festival is celebrated in joy of the victory that the Pandavas achieved over the Kauravas in the battle of the Mahabharata.

Dil Bahadur Budha, former ward chairperson of Shuklaphanta Municipality-11, said that the traditional dance performed during this festival is considered a symbol of bravery. 

According to him, with the recent increase in migration from hilly districts to the Tarai, the vibrancy of this festival has also significantly grown in Kailali and Kanchanpur.

Special cultural programs of Bhuwa dance and Deuda dance, accompanied by singing, reflecting the uniqueness of the hill culture, are organized in urban areas as well, including Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar.

Budha said that this festival has strengthened the cultural unity between the hills and the Tarai.

"Bhuwa festival is not just entertainment, but it is observed as an enactment of battle in commemoration of legends and historical tales. This festival begins the day before Poush Krishna Aunsi (the new moon day in the month of Poush) and is celebrated joyfully for three to five days," he said.

According to him, as part of the Bhuwa celebration, men wear traditional clothes (white robe and turban) and carry a sword and shield in their hands and dance in a circle formation while enacting a battle scene, collectively demonstrating martial skills.

Forty-six thousand and twenty new voters have been registered in Sudurpaschim Province. 

Prem Raj Bhatta, Head of the Sudurpaschim Province Election Office, said that there has been an increase in young voters for the House of Representatives elections to be held on March 5.

"Election material management and voter list updating works are going on. A deadline until Friday has been given for registering objections on the voter list and correction of any errors," Bhatta added.

He said the highest number of new voters was added in Kailali with 18,213 and the lowest in Bajura with 1,517 from September 26  to November 21, during the period opened for registering for the voter list.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development of Sudurpaschim Province has constructed 355 kilometers of roads over the past year. According to data released by the office of Minister Surendra Bahadur Pal, the total includes blacktopped, gravel, and earthen roads completed during the fiscal year 2024/25.

Despite limited resources and manpower, the ministry also completed six road bridges, 85 multi-year plans, and 26.83 kilometers of embankments, which have helped conserve 37.5 hectares of land. The ministry has also finalized the Regional Road Network Master Plan, which outlines the development of 70 provincial highways, 119 auxiliary roads, and 190 roads serving special purposes.

In the drinking water sector, the ministry emphasized major improvements. A total of 841 intakes, 516 water ponds, 2,133 kilometers of pipelines, and four deep tube wells were installed, providing water to 11,939 households. So far, 173 water supply projects have been completed, benefitting 83,585 people with basic water services and 19,287 with medium-level services.

In partnership with the federal and local governments, the ministry is advancing the “Drinking Water Governance and Infrastructure Support Project,” with an estimated investment of Rs 13.38bn. A cost-sharing agreement has been signed with Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality, and Bardagoria, Joshipur, and Janaki rural municipalities.

In the energy and irrigation sector, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the Upper Surnayagad and Naugad Hydroelectric Projects have been prepared. The new irrigation initiatives will irrigate 1,682 hectares of land, while repairs to older systems have ensured irrigation for an additional 13,947 hectares. Additionally, 32 new deep tube wells have been installed.

To support underprivileged communities, the ministry constructed 110 public housing units, 10 playgrounds, three parks, two covered halls, and six government buildings. Furthermore, the second amendment draft of the Sudurpaschim Province Vehicle and Transportation Management Regulations 2025 has been approved. Revenue from the transportation office alone has reached Rs 1.71bn.

A total of 172 people lost their lives to road accidents in the last fiscal year 2023/24 in Sudurpaschim Province.

Among them, 137 were male, 23 were female and 12 children, according to the Nepal Police's Highway Safety and Traffic Management Office, Attariya.

Spokesperson of the Office, DSP Anil Kumar Uprety shared that 536 were injured in the 309 road accidents in the same period. Among the vehicles meeting with the accidents, motorcycle related accidents were the highest at 207 followed by jeep/car at 40, bus at 24, tempo at 17, truck and tanker at 19, tipper at 9, micro bus 7, dozer at 3 and other types of vehicles.

The office has been organizing various awareness programs to sensitize people about traffic rules and road safety, said DSP Uprety, adding that 6,626 awareness programs and campaigns launched last fiscal year had benefitted 389,266.

The Office also took action against 73,479 drivers flaouting traffic rules. Traffic police collected over Rs 48.8 million in revenue from the fine slapped on the erring drivers, informed DSP Uprety.

In the previous fiscal year, 177 people died in 255 road accidents leaving 473 injured, it was shared.

Dengue cases are surging in hilly districts of Sudurpaschim Province lately.

A total of 140 cases of dengue infection have been detected in the Province since January this year with Doti district recording the highest cases at 47, according to Hemraj Joshi, Vector Control Officer at the Sudurpaschim Province Health Directorate.

Achham reported 26 dengue cases, Kanchanpur 24, Bajura 15, Darchula 10, Kailali 9, Bajhang 4, Dadheldhura 3 and Baitadi 2. "There is a high risk of outbreak and spread of dengue infection in Tarai region with rainfall," he cautioned.

Due to extreme heat, mosquitoes are dying in many places in Tarai at present, and as the rainfall starts and it gets a little cold, the risks of dengue infection will increase in Tarai as well, he warned.

With the prevalence of mosquitoes in the hilly areas, the cases of mosquito-borne disease are being reported along with malaria from these places lately, said Joshi.

He shared that medicines, treatment kit, healthcare providers and healthcare facilities are in place for dengue prevention and control.

Separate wards and beds have been managed for dengue patients in the public healthcare facilities, according to him.

Local levels are identifying the areas having larva and implementing the 'Larva search and destroy' campaign as a preventive measure.

The statistics showed that altogether 1,194 cases of dengue were recorded in Sudurpaschim Province in 2023.

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.

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.

A day after taking a decision to withdraw the support extended to the government, Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah has assigned the responsibility to two ministers participating in the provincial government from the Nagarik Unmukti Party.

According to the Chief Minister's Secretariat, Chief Minister Shah has appointed Laxman Kishor Chaudhary as the Minister for Social Development and Khushiram Dagaura Tharu as the Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment.

Earlier, both of them were appointed as ministers without portfolio.

Damodar Pandit, spokesperson of the party, informed that the meeting of the founding members of the party held in Tikapur on Wednesday decided to support the coalition in the central government and withdraw the support to the province government.

Along with this, Nagarik Unmukti Party will have four ministers and one state minister in the Sudurpaschim government.

Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah on Monday appointed Laxman Kishor Chaudhary of Nagarik Unmukti Party as the minister without portfolio.

Province Chief Devraj Joshi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chaudhary amidst a function.

Among the seven Province Assembly members, five have become the ministers—four ministers and one state minister—in the Sudurpaschim Province.

The Chief Minister on Friday appointed the party's Parliamentary Party leader as Minister for Minister for Economic Affairs, Khusram Chaudhary as Minister without portfolio and Indira Giri as State Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives.

Earlier, Rameshwor Chaudhary was appointed as the Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives.

Apart from Minister for Economic Affairs Shivaraj Bhatta, seven have become ministers from Kailali alone in the Sudurpaschim Province.

Bhatta is a Province Assembly member of Nepali Congress from Baitadi.

A place surrounded by forests, caves and a natural lake that never dries up, Pattal Bhubaneswar in Sudurpaschim province has many notable features. 

Although the site, located in Surnaya Rural Municipality-2, Baitadi, has a great tourism potential, not many visitors come here due to the lack of promotion. The main attraction of Pattal Bhubaneshwar is its main cave which is said to be the deepest in South Asia. Several teams have tried and failed to measure the length and depth of the cave. 

In 2015, a team led by French cave expert Maurice Dussin studied up to 800 meters of the cave. The team couldn’t go beyond that point. After that, a geological team of Tribhuvan University also studied the cave. The team concluded that since the topography of the area is rocky, there won’t be any damage due to natural calamities like earthquakes. Yet another team of foreign experts tried to measure the length of this cave last month. The team led by UK cave expert Peter Alisson also failed to measure the entire length of the cave. The team has said the caving experience in Pattal Bhubaneshwar was different from other caves in the world. “This cave is deeper than the ones in Meghalaya, India, and Thailand. Commercial caving is possible in these two caves, but we couldn't go much deeper in this cave. It’s among the deepest in the world,” Alisson added.

Alisson suggested local authorities to promote these caves in the global arena so that this area can benefit from tourism. 

Kailash Chand, a member of the exploration team, said he saw an interesting structure resembling an elephant trunk and several statues and a Shivalinga. “The route narrows down as we go deeper. The cave floor is moist. We can see several structures as well as inscriptions,” he added. 

The team explored the cave for nearly eight hours on the first day and 12 hours on the second day. The local people are planning to develop the cave into an adventure tourism destination.
“The study has concluded that this area holds potential for tourism development. We need to build necessary infrastructures to welcome tourists,” Arun Bista, president of Pattal Bhubaneshwar Religious Forest Committee, said. “We need to build accommodation and also launch effective publicity campaigns.”

Pattal Bhubaneswar Cave, which is only a 20-minute walk from Dasharath Chand Highway, also holds special religious significance. According to Hindu scriptures, goddess Sati Devi’s foot fell at this place when Lord Shiva was roaming the world with her dead body. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The area wears a festive look during festivals like Mahashivaratri. But the temple is in a dilapidated state now. 

“We need to renovate the temple and build accommodations for tourists,” Keshav Raj Bhatta, a local of the area, said. 

Rural municipality chairperson Amar Bahadur Kunwar said they were preparing a master plan for the development of Pattal Bhubaneshwar area. “We are working in coordination with the provincial and federal governments,” he added.

The cases of COVID-19 have again emerged in the Sudurpaschim Province. The infection rate was nil until sometime ago and last week, but eight cases have been detected this week.

Ganesh Saud, an Auxiliary Health Worker stationed at the Health Desk in Gauriphanta along the Nepal-India border, said that symptoms were observed in India-returnees. Through antigen tests, eight cases have been identified lately.

Four samples of the infected have been already sent to Kathmandu through the province-based lab to find out the disease variant.

Those showing symptoms of COVID-19 at the border have been advised to observe home- isolation and those having severe symptoms are being advised to visit hospitals.

According to Saud, the World Health Organization recently warned against the detection of a new variant of the disease. 

According to the provincial Health Emergency Operation Centre, Health Directorate, three COVID-19 cases have been traced in the past three days among the people returned to Nepal from Gauriphanta and Gaddachauki checkpoints in the province.

The Sudurpaschim Province government has decided to provide Rs 10 million for the earthquake victims of Karnali Province.

An emergency meeting of the province government held on Saturday made the decision to this effect.

Speaking at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shahi said that the province government has decided to provide Rs 10 million to the earthquake victims of Karnali.

Similarly, he said the meeting has also decided to send 20 health workers to the quake affected areas.

The Chief Minister was of the opinion that a team with medicines, health equipment and other relief materials will head towards the affected areas today itself.

The provincial government also expressed condolences to bereaved families and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The Sudurpaschim Province is at high risk of dengue spread, according to the data from the Sudurpaschim Province Health Directorate.

The focal person at the Directorate, Hemraj Joshi, said that the number of dengue patients is increasing day by day.

The province recorded a total of 353 dengue patients in August alone.

"The number of dengue patients has shot up in the month of August," he added.

In the past eight months, the province recorded 680 cases of dengue infection.

As per the data, Kailali district has the highest number of dengue patients while Baitadi has the least number of the infection. During the period, Kailali witnessed 232 patients.

Fortunately, there has not been recorded even a single death caused due to dengue this year.

Last year, the province had recorded four dengue-related deaths.

Lumpy skin disease is taking a heavy toll on the cattle in the districts of Sudurpaschim Province. So far, almost 26,000 livestock died of the lumpy skin disease, the officials said. 

The disease has spread in all nine districts of the province, affecting around 634,800 animals.

Chief of Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Expert Centre, Kailali, Dr Hemraj Awasthi, said that the outbreak of the disease has panicked the local farmers with the largest number of livestock fatalities in Baitadi and largest number of infections in Kailali district. Dr Awasthi said that more than 11,000 animals died of this disease in Baitadi district.

Likewise, Kanchanpur district recorded the least number of fatalities among the nine districts in the province.

However, just 630 livestock received vaccines against this disease as per the information provided to the Department of Livestock Service from the Livestock Development Directorate.

"This year's infection in the hilly districts is deadlier," according to Dr Awasthi.

The livestock technicians have suggested the farmers keep the infected cattle isolated. It is said that the disease broke out due to the practice of keeping cattle free in open grazing land in highland areas.

Sudurpaschim Province Government has failed to utilize Rs 11bn of the budget allocated for the fiscal year 2022/23.

Out of the total allocation of Rs 35bn in 2022/23, the provincial government could spend only Rs 24bn by mid-July 2023. The provincial government has stated that Rs 7bn from the capital budget and Rs 4bn from the recurrent budget remained unutilized in the previous fiscal year, which concluded in mid-July.

According to Basudev Joshi, chief of Sudurpashchim Treasury Controller Office, only Rs 15bn out of the allocated Rs 22.84bn for the capital budget was expended. Similarly, Rs 8bn out of the allocated Rs 12.3bn for recurrent expenditure was utilized during the review year.

“Despite having numerous development plans, the province government lacked sufficient personnel to execute them,” Joshi explained. “This hindered the spending process.”

Joshi further mentioned that the majority of the unspent budget consisted of equalization grants and conditional grants received from the federal government.

The provincial government has been allocating budgets for projects even smaller than those prepared by local units. Under the Ministry of Physical Planning alone, there were 6,200 projects with budgets ranging from Rs 300,000 to Rs 50m.

“The budgets are allocated with the intention of favoring party cadres and individuals close to influential figures. There is a practice of implementing projects through consumer committees led by party cadres to pocket commissions,” said Rajendra Singh Rawal, the parliamentary party leader of CPN-UML in the provincial assembly. “Under such circumstances, how can the budget be fully spent this year?”

In terms of capital expenditure, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest, and Environment achieved the highest spending progress at 79 percent, while the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers attained the lowest progress at 49 percent.

Similarly, the spending progress of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure stood at 73 percent, the Ministry of Social Development at 71 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning at 65 percent, the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives at 65 percent, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law at 56 percent.

This is the second term of the Sudurpaschim Province Government. The average budget spending has remained at 60-65 percent over the past five years. In previous years, the budget spending stood at 59 percent in 2018/19, 62 percent in 2019/20, 64 percent in 2020/21, and 66 percent in 2021/22.

“In the previous fiscal year, budgets were allocated for fragmented projects, and we also faced a shortage of technical staff,” Naresh Bahadur Shahi, Minister of Economic Affairs of Sudurpaschim Province, stated. “Now, we have discontinued fragmented programs. These programs will be implemented by local units. We expect an improvement in spending in the current fiscal year.”

Approximately one-fourth of the budget for 2022/23, amounting to Rs 9bn, was spent in the last month of the fiscal year alone i.e. from mid-June to mid-July.