Manohar Pradhan, who stood as a guarantor for Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, has been included in the party’s list of candidates for the proportional representation (PR) system.
Pradhan provided a Rs 3 million guarantee to secure Lamichhane’s release from custody in the case involving the embezzlement of funds from Butwal’s Supreme Cooperative.
The total claimed amount in that case was Rs 109.93 million. Lamichhane submitted three bank guarantee letters to the court totaling Rs 27.48 million, equal to his share of the claimed amount.
Lamichhane was released only after submitting these three guarantee letters from Prabhu Bank. The guarantors who provided these letters were Shankar Prasad Shrestha, Ramananda Ghimire, and Manohar Pradhan.
Among these three, Pradhan is ranked fourth in the indigenous nationalities male category on the PR list submitted by the RSP to the Election Commission. This ranking comes despite the fact that Pradhan trailed significantly in the primary election conducted by the RSP to select PR candidates.
While the RSP had released the names of the nine individuals with the highest number of votes in the indigenous nationalities cluster, Pradhan’s name was not among them.
In the primary election held via the party's mobile app, Pradhan ranked 17th, receiving 8,292 votes. Notably, Uttam Bahadur Gurung, who secured the top spot in that cluster with double the votes of Pradhan, is missing from the RSP’s final PR candidate list entirely.
Pradhan, a doctor by profession, served as the Bagmati province advisor for the RSP.
In a conversation with Setopati, Pradhan admitted that he personally provided a Rs 3 million guarantee for Lamichhane. However, he argued, this had no connection to his inclusion in the PR list.
"If one could become a proportional candidate with money, there would be many others; why would it be Manohar Pradhan?" he said. "If it could be bought for 3 million, there would be thousands of people. I purely assisted as much as I could from my personal account with my heart, soul, and wealth. When I provided the 3 million guarantee, I didn't do it thinking there would be a Gen Z movement, the government would fall, and I would get into the PR list."
Pradhan explained that he helped Lamichhane because he is the lawmaker from his own constituency in Chitwan.
"I didn't help thinking an election would happen before 2027," Pradhan said. "In the indigenous nationalities category, I received the most votes in Bagmati province. In the indigenous nationalities category, I am third among males across Nepal."
However, the list of nine names previously published by the RSP mentioned only two males (Uttam Bahadur Gurung and Milan Limbu). Pradhan’s name was absent from that list.
Pradhan had also assisted Lamichhane when he launched a mobile clinic in Chitwan after the 2022 elections.
Pradhan claimed that he has been in the medical profession for 25 years and was selected by meeting the criteria set by the RSP for PR candidates.
"I am not someone who doesn't know how to speak at all. I was selected as one of 47 candidates," he said. "I have been a professor for 17 years."
Meanwhile, Uttam Bahadur Gurung, who was excluded from the party’s PR list despite securing the most votes, suggested that his name might have been dropped due to the last-minute agreements the party made with Kulman Ghising and Balen Shah.
"The party is currently studying why the name was not included," Gurung, who is from Sudur Paschim province, told Setopati. "It is being said that someone else might have been included due to a rushed decision. The party's provincial committee has taken an interest and is in talks with central leaders."
