CPN standing committee member Bhim Rawal has said the people through the by-election have reprimanded the ruling party and injected enthusiasm in the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC).
Speaking to Setopati on Tuesday Rawal said the by-election results have sent the message that the government and ruling party need to improve. "The people through the by-election have reminded the government to work well or warned the ruling party, and injected a bit of enthusiasm in NC," Rawal stated. "That apart, popular vote has not dropped in a way to make significant difference or loss to CPN."
He summed up the by-election result saying it is good overall for his party.
CPN won 30 out of the 52 posts that went for polls while NC won 13.
But he conceded that result in some places require the party to think and review the overall political and organization status. "We cannot say its power has waned as CPN has made achievements. But the poll results give a glimpse of some practices growing inside CPN, and the viewpoint toward the party being developed in the urban areas," he elaborated. "Unexpected loss in places like Dharan, Bhaktapur and Chitwan has sent a message to CPN to review the overall politics and organizational state."
He pointed that lack of serious review now will affect the general election in the future. He conceded that loss after unification at places where CPN-UML had won alone in the past is a matter of serious concern.
Dharan Sub-metropolitan City, Hilihang rural municipality of Panchthar and ward 16 of Bharatpur are places where UML had won before unification.
He said loss in these places is the people's reaction toward the government.
He gave two reasons for rise in popular vote of NC. The first, the informed mass in Nepal soon becomes critical of the government if the government fails to work in accordance to the people's aspirations. Their support to the government shrinks and they vote for the opposition if the opposition raise their issues.
"These are not the votes given to Congress with sincere belief that it can really do the works that CPN could not," he argued. "The votes that Congress increased are not all secured by the party alone. RPP and other smaller parties have supported it on the one hand. These are not the votes people have given due to confidence in the Congress."
He, however, analyzed that the informed voters of urban places like Bhaktapur, Dharan and Chitwan have pushed the government a bit to change its working style.
