KATHMANDU, May 7: The ruling CPN-UML has decided to field Home Minister and party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' as its candidate for upcoming by-polls for a vacant seat in the National Assembly (NA).
A Standing Committee meeting held at Prime Minister Oli’s official residence in Baluwatar today finalized Thapa’s candidacy, a Standing Committee member and UML lawmaker Subash Chandra Nembang told Republica. “He has left for Hetauda to register his candidacy,” Nembang added.
UML Standing Committee discusses upper house bypolls
A seat from Bagmati Province has been vacant in the 59-member upper house as the CPN (Maoist Center) suspended Thapa after he joined the ruling UML, following the Supreme Court’s March 7 order to revive the UML and Maoist Center. The apex court, responding to Rishi Kattel’s petition, scrapped the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
An alliance of opposition parties, including Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, Janata Samajbadi Party and even UML’s Nepal-Khanal faction, have fielded Dr Khimlal Devkota for the same seat. He registered his candidacy a while ago.
