Ruling coalition parties win 18 of 19 seats in NA election

The coalition parties in the incumbent government have won 18 seats in the National Assembly (NA) election organised for filling the total 19 vacant seats. The main opposition CPN (UML) won one remaining seat.

Nepali Congress’s candidates–Gopal Kumar Basnet, Krishna Prasad Paudel, Kamala Panta, Yubaraj Sharma, Durga Gurung and Narayan Datta Mishra won. Other elected NA members are Urmila Aryal, Bhuvan Sunar, Suresh Alemagar, Nar Bahadur Bista and Jagat Bahadur Parki, all from the CPN (Maoist Centre), Jayanti Devi Rai, Goma Devi Timilsina, Rajendra Laxmi Gaire, Udaya Bohara and Madan Kumar Shah (Garima), all from the CPN (Unified Socialist), Mahammad Khalid from the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal and Tul Prasad Bishwokarma from the Rastriya Janamorcha.

Similarly, in the quota of people with disabilities and minorities, Sonam Galjen Sherpa from the UML won a seat with 4,770 votes from Province 1. His closest rival Hem Raj Rai Thulung from the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal got 4,386 votes. Of the total 2,025 voters, 2,007 votes were cast, said the Election Commission’s Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel. Tenure of all elected NA members will be six years.