NC makes Gagan its prime ministerial candidate

KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to contest the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5 by projecting party President Gagan Kumar Thapa as its prime ministerial candidate.

A meeting of the party’s Central Working Committee held in Sanepa endorsed a proposal tabled by Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma to make Thapa the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Thapa, who was elected to Parliament three times from the Kathmandu-4 constituency, is contesting the upcoming elections from the Sarlahi-4 seat.

Former NC leader Amresh Kumar Singh contested the election from the Sarlahi-4 seat as an independent candidate in 2022 after he was denied a ticket by the NC. He defeated the party’s official candidate by nearly 3,000 votes. Singh has now joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and is contesting from the seat again.

Singh is expected to give Thapa, who is contesting an election from Madhesh for the first time, a tough challenge in the elections.

Meanwhile, members of the Central Working Committee elected by the NC’s second Special General Convention, held in the second week of January, were sworn in on Friday.