By-election: Voting begins in Bara-2, Chitwan-2 and Tanahun-1

KATHMANDU: Voting has begun in Bara-2, Chitwan-2 and Tanahun-1 constituencies of the House of Representatives.

According to the Election Commission (EC), voting began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.

The EC is holding by-elections in these three vacated seats of the lower house. Tanahun-1 was vacated with the election of Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker to the position of President, while Bara-2 became with the election of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) lawmaker Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav to the post of Vice President.

Similarly, Chitwan-2 became vacant after the Supreme Court ruled Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Rabi Lamichhane ineligible to hold public office as he had not obtained Nepali citizenship after renouncing his citizenship to become US citizen.

Lamichhane, who obtained citizenship following the apex court verdict, is contesting again in the Chitwan-2 constituency. He is locking horns with Jit Narayan Shrestha of NC and Ramchandra Neupane of CPN-UML.

Similarly, RSP’s Swarnim Wagle, UML’s Sarbendra Khanal and NC’s Govinda Raj Bhattarai, among others, are contesting in Tanahun-1, while JSP’s Upendra Yadav, RSP’s Ramesh Kharel, Janamat Party’s Shiva Chandra Kushbaha and UML’s Purushottam Poudel are in the fray in Bara-2.