KATHMANDU, Dec 11: As many as twelve political parties are set to contest the House of Representatives (HoR) election scheduled for March 5 by forming five groups. According to the Election Commission (EC), each group will use a separate election symbol.
As per the EC, the Rastriya Mukti Party Nepal led by Rajendra Mahato, the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) led by Ashok Rai, and the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) Nepal led by Kabir Sob have jointly applied to contest the election as a group.
A faction of the Rai-led JSP recently merged with the Nepali Communist Party, after which Rai decided to form a group to contest the polls. Similarly, following a split in the NUP Nepal, Sob’s party also chose to ally for the election.
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Likewise, the Aam Janata Party led by Prabhu Sah and the Janadesh Party chaired by Raman Karna, with Aliza Gautam as vice-chair, have also decided to contest the election together, forming a separate group.
The Nepal Sanghiya Samajbadi Party led by Javed Ali Ansari, the Bahujan Ekata Party led by Harichandan Kumar Ranjan, and the Nepal Janajagriti Party led by Dhuplal Prakash Sahani have formed another group for the election. The Nagarik Sarbottam Party led by Bharat Khadka and the Sachet Nepali Party led by Punya Prasad Prasai will also contest jointly.
Similarly, the Nepal Communist Party (Marxist) led by Ambika Prasad Thaiba and the Nepal Communist Party led by Loknarayan Subedi have joined hands to contest as one group. According to EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, a total of 12 parties will compete in groups. “The parties will remain separate entities, but each group will have a common symbol,” Bhattarai said.
According to the EC, 143 parties are currently registered. Among them, 114 parties have opted to participate in the upcoming HoR election. Some registered parties did not file applications to take part.
The EC stated that 107 election symbols will be used in the March 5 election. A total of 102 parties will contest with individual symbols, while the EC has allocated 107 symbols across parties.
