Nepal Polls: Left Alliance Wins 72 Seats, Heading Towards Majority

People casting their vote in Nepal. 

(Photo: PTI)

Nepal's Left alliance was heading towards comfortable majority in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, 10 December, winning 72 of the 89 seats so far in the historic polls that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the country.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) led by former premier KP Oli and the CPN-Maoist led by former premier Prachanda have forged an electoral alliance for both the provincial and parliamentary elections.

According to results released by the Election Commission, the CPN-UML has won 51 seats while its alliance partner CPN Maoist-Centre has bagged 21 seats.

The ruling Nepali Congress, which was the largest party in the last election, won only 10 seats, according to tallies.

Two Madhesi parties have won five seats.

The Federal Socialist Forum Nepal led by Upendra Yadav has won 2 seats whereas Rastriya Janata Party led by Mahanta Thakur has bagged 3 seats.

Naya Shakti Party led by former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has won one seat and an independent was among winning candidates.

The vote counting is in progress for remaining 76 seats.

The house of representatives consists of 275 members, of which 165 would be elected directly under the first-past-the-post system, while the remaining 110 will come through the proportional representation system.

Voting in two-phased parliamentary and provincial assembly elections were held on 26 November and 7 December.

In the first phase, polling was held in 32 districts, mostly situated in the hilly and mountainous region, in which 65 percent of voters had exercised their franchise. In the second phase, 67 percent voter turnout was registered.

A total of 1,663 candidates contested polls for parliamentary seats, while 2,819 were in the fray for the provincial assembly seats.

The polls will elect 128 members of parliament and 256 members of provincial assemblies.

Senior NC leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh has won from Kathmandu-1 seat by a thin margin against his rival Ravindra Mishra, a senior journalist who was contesting from a new party Sajha Viveksheel.

Popular NC youth leader Gagan Thapa won from Kathmandu-4 by defeating Rajan Bhattarai of the CPN-UML.

Left alliance candidates Krishna Kumar Rai, Jeevan Ram Bhandari and Krishna Gopal Shrestha have won from Kathmandu-3, Kathmandu-8 and Kathmandu-9 seats respectively by defeating their NC opponents.

In the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections, the Nepali Congress had won eight out of ten seats from Kathmandu.

The heavyweights who lost include NC leader Shekhar Koirala, Communication minister and NC candidate Mohan Basnet, and Rastriya Prajatantrik Party leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana.

Koirala lost to Lal Babu Pandit of the CPN-UML from Morang-6, while Basnet lost to Agni Sapkota of the CPN-Maoist Centre from Sindhupalchowk-1 seat. Rana lost to Sher Bahadur Tamang of the CPN-UML on Sindhupalcowk-2 seat.

Election the Final Step in Nepal’s Transition to a Federal Democracy?

The elections are being seen as the final step in Nepal’s transition to a federal democracy following a decade-long civil war till 2006 that claimed more than 16,000 lives.

While many hope Nepal's first state elections will hasten regional development, others fear they will spark a fresh wave of violence.

In 2015, when Nepal adopted a new Constitution that split it into seven states, dozens of people were killed in ethnic clashes over territory and rights.

Following the adoption of the new Constitution, the ethnic Madhesi group, mostly of Indian-origin, protested for months, saying they were not getting enough territory in one of the provinces and were also facing discrimination.

The polls are seen as a major step towards implementing the new Constitution.

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