The candidacy of Resham Chaudhary from Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal has been revoked. Patron of the party Chaudhary had filed nominations in Kailali-1.
"The nomination of Resham Lal Chaudhary, a candidate of Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal (single election symbol), for the election to the post of Member of the House of Representatives under the first-past-the-post electoral system, has been disqualified as it does not appear to be maintainable according to the prevailing law. Act according to the law," states the decision made by the Election Officer.
Election Officer Dev Raj Bharati told Setopati that three main grounds were taken for the decision to disqualify the candidacy. "It was found that a life imprisonment sentence was handed down by the Supreme Court. According to the House of Representatives Member Election Act, a person sentenced for life remains disqualified from becoming a candidate," Bharati said.
"Apart from that, we have also based our decision on the previous decision of the Election Commission that ruled he is disqualified from being even a member of a political party. Furthermore, it appeared that although he received a presidential pardon, the nature of the sentence remained the same."
In the case related to the Tikapur incident, Chaudhary had received presidential pardon on recommendation of the then government. However, according to the House of Representatives Election Act, a person sentenced for life is not allowed to be a candidate in an election.
In the last general election in 2022, Chaudhary was a candidate from Bardiya-2. At that time, his candidacy was revoked while he was still in jail. Following that, his father Lalbir Chaudhary became an independent candidate in Bardiya-2. Later, he joined the Nagarik Unmukti Party. Lalbir is currently in the party.