If preliminary results obtained from the ongoing vote count late Thursday evening are anything to go by, both the Koirala and Deuba panels will get almost 50 percent each of the seats on the CWC reserved for women, Madhesis, Dalits, Aadibasi/Janajati and Muslims. Most of those in the lead in the vote counting for reserved seats are familiar faces. [break]
The NC has allocated 22 reserved seats for various marginalized groups. These include six for women, five each including two women for Aadibasi/Janajati, Dalits and Madhesis, and one for Muslims.
Of the 22 reserved seats, the NC Central Election Committee has declared Mohammad Aftab Aalam -- a candidate from the Koirala panel -- winner from the Muslim group. Counting of votes for the remaining 21 reserved seats on the CWC is yet to be completed. The Central Election Committee plans to resume the vote count Friday morning.
Alam has won with a total of 1,266 votes, while nearest rival Mohammad Raji Hadar secured 776 votes. Elected Constituent Assembly (CA) member from constituency- 2 of Rautahat, Alam holds the portfolio of Labor and Transport Management in the caretaker government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Among the 40 candidates in the fray for the six CWC seats reserved for women, those in the lead are Pushpa Bhusal, Mina Pandey, Kamala Panta, Ambika Basnet, Mahalaxmi Upadhyaya, Urmila Nepal, Uma Regmi and Rita Khanal. Four of them are close to Deuba.
Likewise, in the Aadibasi/Janajati category, two candidates each from the Koirala and Deuba panels appeared to be leading in the intial vote counting. Bhisma Raj Angdangwe, Indra Bahadur Gurung, Surya Man Gurung, Dhanraj Gurung, Sita Gurung, Ratna Sherchan and Suwarna Juharchan are leading in the ongoing vote counting at party headquarters, Sanepa.
The Election Committee had counted some 800 votes for each of the reserved groups before counting was stopped at 8 p.m., to be resumed Friday morning.
According to the NC Central Election Committee, Ram Krishna Yadav, Mahendra Yadav, Ajaya Kumar Chaurasiya, Uma Kant Chaudhary, Parbati DC Chaudhary, Mukta Kumari Yadav and Minakshi Jha are among those leading the vote for Madhesi seats. Four of them belong to the Deuba panel.
Likewise, Shambhu Hajara Dusadh, Jiwan Pariyar, Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, Min Bishwakarma, Sujata Pariyar, Kabita Kumari Sardar and Asha B K are among those leading the vote from the Dalit quota. They include four from the Deuba panel.
The NC Election Committee plans to start counting votes cast for CWC members contesting in the open and zonal categories after declaring the winners for the reserved seats, possibly by late Friday or Saturday. While there are 25 CWC seats in the open category, one member each is elected from the 14 zones.
Outgoing General Secy thanks
Outgoing General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi, who was defeated by Prakash Man Singh during the central level election held on Tuesday, has congratulated all those winning in the central level election for various positions and wished them successful tenure.
Issuing a press statement, Nidhi assured all party cadres that he will always remain alert to his responsibility of representing them both inside the party and outside.
While expressing special gratitude towards those voting for him in the race for general secretary, he said, “I do also respect those not voting for me but took part in the vote to help institutionalize the party´s internal democracy by exercising their franchise.”
Nidhi has thanked all those helping to make the 12th general convention a success and also those supporting him during his stint as general secretary.
Meanwhile, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was defeated in the party´s presidential election, on Thursday congratulated Sushil Koirala on being elected NC president. Deuba had gone to the TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, to inquire about the health condition of the ailing Koirala.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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