KATHMANDU, Jan 21: Six former finance ministers have entered the electoral race for the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) election scheduled for March 5.
Former Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai, who led the Ministry of Finance after the 2008 elections is contesting from Gorkha Constituency-2. Bhattarai currently serves as the patron of the Gatisheel Loktantrik Party.
Likewise, the UML Leader Bishnu Prasad Paudel is preparing to run from Rupandehi-2 for the upcoming election. Paudel had become finance minister five times as he took minister’s portfolios in eight different governments.
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Nepali Congress (NC) leader Prakash Sharan Mahat is contesting from Nuwakot-1. Mahat assumed the role of finance minister in May, 2023.
Nepali Communist Party Leader Barsha Man Pun has filed his candidacy from Rolpa. Pun led the MoF two times during March-July, 2024 and August 2011-March 2013.
Likewise, NC leader Gyanendra Bahadur Karki has been nominated for the upcoming election from Sunsari-4. Karki was the finance minister in Sher Bahadur Deuba Cabinet in 2017.
Janardan Sharma, who was appointed as Finance Minister on July 14, 2021, is contesting from Rukum West. Sharma was reappointed in the position in less than a month after he resigned from the post following charges that he employed two outsiders to tweak tax rates in the annual budget. He is in the electoral race from Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party.
The incumbent Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal and former finance ministers Ram Sharan Mahat, Surendra Pandey, Yubaraj Khatiwada, Prakash Chandra Lohani and Shankar Prasad Koirala are not contesting for the March 5 election.
