Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Four candidates have filed nominations for the position of Vice President. Three of them are from the eight-party coalition, while one is from CPN-UML.
Two leaders from Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), a member of the eight-party coalition, have filed nominations. They are sitting lawmaker Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav and Pramila Yadav. Similarly, Mamata Jha of Janamat Party, another coalition partner, has also filed her nomination. Likewise, veteran CPN-UML leader Asta Laxmi Shakya has filed a nomination from UML.
Ramsahaya is JSP’s as well as the eight-party coalition’s first choice for the position of Vice President. The party nominated Pramila due to concerns that Ramsahaya’s candidacy might be disqualified by the Election Commission, as some are insisting that since Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress has been elected to the position of President, the Vice President should be female.
The eight-party coalition is expected to withdraw the names of two of its candidates on Sunday.
Astalaxmi Shakya: Astalaxmi Shakya is a well-known figure in Nepali politics. She was sidelined by the party leadership following KP Oli’s rise to power. She was expected to be appointed as the Chief Minister of Bagmati Province in 2017, but Oli preferred his close aide Dormani Poudel. When Poudel’s government was on the verge of collapsing, she briefly served as the Chief Minister of Bagmati Province in difficult circumstances. Shakya is the first and only Nepali woman so far to be appointed as chief minister so far.
Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav: Ramsahaya is the parliamentary party leader of JSP. He joined politics with Nepal Sadbhavana Party in 1991 following his 17-year-long teaching profession. However, he became active in politics only after the Madhesh movement of 2007. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 2008 through the proportional representation (PR) system. He was also elected to the House of Representatives in 2017. JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav is looking to contest re-election in Ramsahaya’s constituency Bara-2 which will become vacant if he is elected Vice President.
Pramila Yadav: Pramila joined politics after the 2006 movement. With 25 years of teaching experience, she held various positions in the party and became a central committee member of JSP in 2016. She was elected to the National Assembly from Madhesh Province in 2017. Although she has filed her nomination, she is not the first choice of her party for the position.
Mamata Jha: Like most leaders of Madhesh-based parties, Mamata also entered politics by joining the Nepal Sadbhavana Party. The 53-year-old is currently the Saptari district in-charge of Janamat Party. She was a candidate for the position of Mayor of Rajbiraj Municipality in the election held in March last year but was defeated.
