Elections will be held in three seats in Gandaki Pradesh under the National Assembly election scheduled for Magh 12.
The Election Commission is going to hold elections in the vacancies of the members who will be leaving in the coming March after completing their four-year term in the National Assembly.
According to the State Election Office, Pokhara, the election will be held in Gandaki after two seats of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and one seat of the CPN (Unified Socialist) became vacant.
Dinanath Sharma from the Maoists was elected to the National Assembly from the ‘Other Group’ and Khim Kumar Vik from the ‘Dalit’ group. Similarly, the election process has been started as the four-year term of Shanti Kumari Adhikari of the Unified Socialists has been elected in the ‘Women’s Quota’ next March, said State Election Officer and Chief of the Office, Hum Nath Parajuli.
According to him, the office of the Returning Officer has been set up for the preparation of the election, publication of voter lists, and to protest the claim on the list has been completed. Chief Parajuli said that the nomination of candidates will be registered on Poush 20. He said, “Preparations are underway for the election of National Assembly members. Voter list was published on Saturday. No one’s claim has been opposed. The nomination of the candidate will be registered on Poush 20.”
According to the State Election Office, two polling stations have been identified for the election to be held in Pokhara. There will be separate polling stations for the state assembly and local level voters, said Rudra Neupane, information officer of the office. According to him, there is a provision in the constitution that the election of the member post to be vacated after the expiration of the term should be fixed 35 days before the vacancy. For the vacant post in Falgun, there is an election scheduled on Magh 12.
Gandaki has a total of 229 voters, including 59 members of the state assembly and 85 local level chiefs and 170 deputy chiefs. In the election, the votes of the members of the Provincial Assembly will be 48 and the votes of the local level chiefs / deputy chiefs will be 18. According to the constitution, for the election of members of the National Assembly, the constituency shall consist of members of the Provincial Assembly, chiefs and deputy chiefs of metropolitan, sub-metropolitan and municipalities, and village chairpersons and vice-chairmen.
After the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, the election of the National Assembly was held on Magh 24, 2074. Of these, 14 were elected from each province, including one Dalit, one person with disability or a minority community. Similarly, 42 candidates from each province, including three women and three from other groups, were elected based on a single transitional electoral system, while three candidates, including one woman, were nominated by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. The National Assembly has a total of 59 members.
The term of office of an elected member is six years and the term of one third of the members expires every two years. For the first time, the term of office of a member has been fixed at two years for one-third, four years for another third and six years for the remaining one-third.
Elections to the National Assembly were held on 9 Magh 2076 BS with 19 members who had completed their term in the first two years. Elections are being held in all the states on January 26 for the 20 members whose term will end in four years.
By Muna Chand
