BUTWAL: CPN-UML Vice Chairperson Bishnu Prasad Paudel has left the Rupandehi-2 seat of the House of Representatives and shifted to Palpa. The party has decided to field him from Palpa-2 in the elections scheduled for March 5.
Sources say Paudel, a five-time parliamentarian, chose Palpa in search of a safer constituency. In the 2022 general election, he defeated Ganesh Paudel of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) by a slim margin of only 1,366 votes. Internal party studies reportedly suggested that securing a win in Rupandehi-2 would be difficult for him this time.
A meeting of the UML Secretariat held on Saturday finalized candidates for most constituencies.
Although Paudel had earlier been recommended for the Rupandehi-2 seat, the party has not yet named a candidate there. Local UML leaders say the leadership may be gauging the mood of party cadres following Paudel’s decision to shift to Palpa before finalizing the candidate.
In the 2022 election, UML leader Thakur Gaire was elected from Palpa-2 with 28,645 votes. However, the party has not granted him a ticket this time.
The move to Palpa marks a return to where Paudel tasted his first electoral success. He won the Palpa-3 seat in the 1994 general elections. Since then, he has been a dominant force in Rupandehi, winning the Constituent Assembly elections in 2008 and 2013 from Rupandehi-4, as well as the general elections in 2017 and 2022 from Rupandehi-2. His only electoral defeat in the district came in 1999 against Surya Prasad Pradhan of the Nepali Congress in the Rupandehi-3 seat.
Locals of Rupandehi say Paudel has played a significant role in the district’s development. They say many major infrastructure projects in the district became possible through his initiatives. Paudel has served as a minister eight times, including five terms as Finance Minister.
Born in Syangja, Paudel later shifted to Butwal and currently resides in Lalitpur.
