KATHMANDU: Namo Narayan Majhi was elected as the chairperson of Ward-1 of Gramthan Rural Municipality of Morang as a candidate of the Madjesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik) in the 2017 local body election. He became a Nepali Congress (NC) cadre following the party’s merger with NC.
Maji had expressed interest in contesting the 2022 election as the ward chairperson. However, he was denied a ticket. He contested the election as an independent candidate but faced defeat. Majhi then joined CPN (Maoist Center). Now, he has been elected as the chairperson of Gramthan Rural Municipality.
Majhi, who was accused of frequently changing political parties, was fortunate this time due to strong local community support. In the by-election held on Sunday, Majhi received 6,969 votes. His closest competitor, Balram Sardar from NC, got 5,333 votes. Similarly, Tulsi Ram Biswas from CPN-UML secured 4,159 votes.
The Gramathan election result is particularly interesting. In the 2017 local body elections, CPN-UML won the rural municipality chair. In the 2022 election, however, NC emerged victorious. Now, a Maoist Center candidate has been elected chairperson.
The position became vacant when Jaya Prakash Gachhdar from Nepali Congress, who was elected in 2022, suddenly fell unconscious while heading to Biratnagar to participate in the National Assembly election. He passed away on June 17.
Local voters had been saying that since candidates from the UML and NC had led the rural municipality previously, this time they wanted to test a new candidate. Local resident Kamal Chaudhary had told Himal Press before the election, “UML and NC won elections in the past, but we haven’t got any benefits. This time, it seems we should test someone new.”
Gramathan has 7 wards with 26,044 registered voters. Of them, 18,577 cast their votes on Sunday.
Prominent leaders like Amal Lal Modi, a former minister and the Member of House of Representatives from Morang-4, who also acted as the Maoist Center’s election commander, played a crucial role in bringing Namo Narayan into the party. Other key Maoist leaders like Hari Bol Gajurel (Koshi Province In-charge), senior leaders, and former ministers were actively involved in the election campaign.
