Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut has announced that he will retire from parliamentary politics.
Raut said that he had contested parliamentary elections against his personal wishes, adding that he will no longer run in such elections in the future.
In the recent election held on March 5, Raut was a candidate for the House of Representatives from Saptari-2, but he was defeated by Ramji Yadav of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
The Janamat Party, which had previously achieved national party status, failed to cross the electoral threshold this time and shrank significantly.
Raut said that although he will step away from parliamentary contests, he will continue to lead the party as long as it needs him.
"I contested parliamentary elections twice against my personal desires; I won once and lost once. However, I am happy with the decision to participate both times," Raut said during an interview with Prime Time Television.
He explained that the decision to form a party in 2018 came after the government prevented the “Independent Madhesh Alliance” from working and completely blocked them from reaching the people.
Raut mentioned that he had initially invited leaders including Narendra Prasad Chaudhary to Janakpur and convince them to become party chair, but had to eventually take the mantle himself when they declined.
"My plan for the 2022 general election was not to contest myself, but to successfully steer the party through as the founding chairman. I proposed this at our Bhaktapur meeting – that I didn't want to contest in either the PR or direct category, but was ready to do anything for the party's success. However, Basantaji and other colleagues convinced me, saying that if I didn't contest and we didn't win a single seat, the party would end before it even began," Raut recalled.
Raut said that he entered the race despite having no desire to become a lawmaker or minister, but after the results were out, he felt he had made the correct decision by following their advice.
He noted that if he had not contested then, the Janamat Party would not have become a national party or even entered Parliament. He won one seat under the FPTP system and the party secured five proportional representation seats, allowing it to achieve national party status.
Raut said that he had long been looking for an opportunity to take a break from parliamentary and power politics, but circumstances forced him to contest elections again.
He also revealed that the party struggled to find candidates for Saptari-1 and Saptari-2, and that the search continued until the final hours before nomination filing.
"We searched for candidates until 3 p.m. on the day for filing nominations. We even filled out forms for two other candidates for Saptari-1 and Saptari-2 as I didn't want to run, but there was confusion over how to explain this sudden move to supporters. Therefore, the district in-charge was instructed to go with only 5-6 people for registration and not to bring any procession along so that the gathered crowd would not be suspicious. But at the last moment, the mayor and other colleagues persuaded me, saying that if I didn't run, the morale of candidates and workers would go down, the party would suffer, and I would be blamed. They even suggested I could resign after winning," he remembered.
Raut said that he had expected the party to win at least four to five FPTP seats even if he did not run, so he felt it was unnecessary for him to contest.
"Ultimately, I ran against my personal wishes again to keep the morale of the party and candidates high. When the results came, I was surprised. Then I felt that I did the right thing by following the advice and contesting. If I had not run, all the blame for the party not winning any seat and not becoming a national party would have fallen on me (while the situation in this wave is entirely different). Therefore, I feel I did the right thing by following my colleagues' advice and running for a second time."
Raut clarified that stepping away from parliamentary politics does not mean disappearing from politics entirely. Instead, he will remain active in politics, continuing to promote his principles and agenda, and continuing to struggle for the people and serve them, he added.
He also said that he is committed to preparing the Janamat Party for the upcoming local and provincial elections.
“I will always remain among you,” he said. “I will stand with you in every struggle and will always play my role in the fight for rights and identity.”
