The preliminary list of candidates for the office-bearer elections, to be held under the first national convention of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has been made public.
According to the list certified by the chief of the party’s central election commission, Bhuwan KC, intense competition is expected for key positions including general secretary and joint general secretary.
According to the party's amended statute, the total number of office-bearers is 19. Of these, elections are to be held for only seven positions, including chairperson.
With Rabi Lamichhane already elected unopposed as president, voting will be held only for the remaining six office-bearer positions. Meanwhile, 12 office-bearers, including Senior Leader and Prime Minister Balen Shah, will be nominated.
The positions up for election include one vice-president (open), one vice-president (woman), one general secretary (open), two joint general secretaries (open), and one joint general secretary (woman).
According to the list published by the commission, Swarnim Wagle is the sole candidate for the open vice-president position. He was elected unopposed after Biraj Bhakta Shrestha withdrew his candidacy.
Meanwhile, two influential party leaders – Sobita Gautam and Dr. Toshima Karki – are set to face off in the election for single woman vice-president seat.
The general secretary position is expected to see the most interesting and intense competition. Ten candidates, including prominent party leaders, initially registered for this post. They included Kabindra Burlakoti, Pramod Neupane, Raju Nath Pandey, Manish Jha, Jagadish Kharel (Lalitpur), Ranju Darshana, Ganesh Karki, Ganesh Parajuli, Sagar Dhakal, and Bipin Kumar Acharya.
However, Burlakoti, Neupane, Pandey, Kharel, Darshana, and Parajuli have since withdrawn their candidacies.
The preliminary list includes 11 candidates for the two joint general secretary positions under the open category. The candidates include Ramesh Prasai, Yagya Mani Neupane, Sulav Kharel, Asim Shah, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Milan Limbu, Pukar Bam, Rajiv Khatri, Bijay Jairu, Hari Dhakal, and Himesh Panta.
Similarly, five candidates are in the fray for the single joint general secretary (woman) position: Julie Yadav, Jamuna Sharma (Bidushi), Kamini Kumari Chaudhary, Nisha Dangi, and Rima Bishwokarma.
According to the party's central election commission, the final list of candidates will be published once the time allotted for filing complaints and withdrawing nominations has concluded.
