Himal Press 
POKHARA: A total of six candidates—three each from the “others” and women clusters—have filed nominations for the National Assembly elections from Gandaki Province.
Smriti (Samjhana) Devkota from the CPN-UML, Goma Luintel Ghimire from the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), and Laxmi Baskota from the Rastriya Janamorcha (RJM) have filed nominations under the women’s cluster, according to the Election Office.
Devkota is the common candidate of the Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML. The two ruling coalition partners have formed an alliance for the National Assembly elections.
Similarly, Jagat Timilsina from the NC, Kapil Lama from the NCP, and Shankar Prasad Baral from the RJM have filed their nominations under the “others” cluster.
The term of National Assembly members from Gandaki Province—Narayan Kaji Shrestha from the NCP and Bhagwati Nyaupane from the UML—is ending on March 4.
The Election Commission is holding the National Assembly elections on January 25.
A total of 19 seats in the upper house are becoming vacant on March 4. One member will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, while the remaining 18 will be elected by an electoral college comprising provincial assembly members and mayors/chairpersons and deputy mayors/vice chairpersons of local units.
Gandaki Province has 60 provincial assembly members and 85 local units. The NC is the largest party in the provincial assembly with 27 members, followed by the UML with 22 and the NCP with seven. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has two members, while the Nepal Samajbadi Party (Naya Shakti) has one. Independent lawmaker Rajiv Gurung from Manang is serving a jail sentence.
Given that the NC and the UML have formed an alliance for the election, their candidates are almost certain to win.
The NC and the UML have total vote weights of 2,704 and 2,496, respectively, while the NCP has a vote weight of 941. The RJM, which has won three local-level posts, has a total vote weight of 57.
