Former vice-president of Nepali Congress (NC) Bimalendra Nidhi has been recommended as candidate from Dhanusha Constituency No. 3 under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system.
A meeting of NC’s regional committee held on Friday afternoon recommended Nidhi as candidate under the PR system, according to NC regional president Shyam Nidhi.
Shyam said that the committee approved the recommendation for Nidhi’s PR candidacy by Dhanusha 3 (A) and 3 (B).
Nidhi had lost to Rajendra Mahato of the then Rastriya Janata Party (RJP) when he contested the 2017 election from this constituency under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system. Mahato had received 30,725 votes while Nidhi had received 27,847 votes.
Mahato, who is now in Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP), is preparing to contest the upcoming election from the same constituency.
Nidhi has also supported Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in his efforts to convince LSP to join the ruling coalition.
Addressing a regional gathering of party cadres in Janakpurdham on Wednesday, Nidhi had hinted that he could contest the upcoming election under the PR system.
He had asked leaders and cadres of Dhanusha Constituency No. 3 to not take it in a wrong way even if he were to become the PR candidate.
NC leaders of Dhanusha say Nidhi has not shown any interest to contest the election under the FPTP system this time.
Nidhi has been telling his close confidants that he also has the option of contesting the election from a hill or mountain constituency if the party were to offer him ticket in a safe constituency.
His decision to leave the FPTP seat in Dhanusha-3, which is also his home constituency, has given rise to political speculation.
According to a leader close to him, Nidhi has opted for PR candidacy as he sees the possibility of having to leave the seat to Mahato and also the possibility of betrayal within the coalition.
He is still a strong candidate but the factionalism seen within NC could cause problems for him, the leader added.
Nidhi also appears likely to face non-cooperation from the ruling coalition because of his role in the recent local elections. Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) had got the ticket for Janakpur’s mayor from the ruling coalition in the election. Manoj Kumar Sah, who is close to Nidhi, filed candidacy against the JSP candidate and won the election with help from Nidhi too.
Nidhi might have decided against contesting the FPTP election as he felt that his role in the coalition candidate’s defeat in the local election could have an impact in the upcoming election, said the leader close to Nidhi.
Discussion is underway to pick the party’s candidate from the constituency under the FPTP system, with NC district president Yogendra Panjiyar being talked about as the potential candidate. Panjiyar had lost the election for mayor of Kshireshwornath Municipality.
