Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah is preparing to resign from his post on January 18.
Shah, who recently joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as a senior leader, plans to step down two days before filing his candidacy for the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, said a member of his secretariat.
According to the Election Commission’s schedule, the date for filing nominations for the House of Representatives election is January 20.
The RSP has announced Shah as its candidate for prime minister in the upcoming election.
In a direct challenge to CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Shah is preparing to contest the election from Jhapa Constituency No. 5.
On Sunday, he discussed the matter with RSP leaders from Jhapa for one and a half hours. The meeting took place at the residence of his secretariat member, Kumar Ben, in Jwagal, Lalitpur-10, and included RSP Jhapa President Prakash Pathak and Secretary Shambhu Suskera.
According to Pathak, Shah said during the talks that he had already decided to run from Jhapa-5. Shah also informed the team that his aides had conducted a preliminary survey of the ground reality, development status, and the standing of traditional parties in that constituency.
Jhapa-5 is the stronghold of UML Chairman Oli. He has consistently won from there, with the exception of 2008, when he was defeated by a Maoist candidate.
Shah also met Tharuhat movement leaders, including Laxman Tharu and Surendra Chaudhary, on Sunday, according to his secretariat sources.
