Bipin Kumar Acharya has been elected as the general secretary of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
Acharya was elected to the position during the party's general convention held in Bharatpur, Chitwan, on Friday.
Acharya defeated fellow contenders Manish Jha, Sagar Dhakal, and Ganesh Karki in the race for the party’s general secretary.
Ten candidates had originally filed their nominations for the position. Howeeer, Ganesh Parajuli, Raju Pandey, Kabindra Burlakoti, Jagadish Kharel, Ranju Darshana, and Pramod Neupane later withdrew their candidacies to extend their support to Acharya.
Acharya is a member of the House of Representatives. He previously served as the party’s joint general secretary.
FILE - Toshima Karki (left) and Sobita Gautam
Meanwhile, Sobita Gautam has been elected as RSP vice-president under the women’s category, defeating Dr Toshima Karki.
The election for the party's office-bearers took place on Friday in Bharatpur.
Gautam is a member of the House of Representatives and the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs. She was previously a member of the party's secretariat and also served as a lawmaker.
The RSP statute provides for three vice-president positions. Among them, Swarnim Wagle has already been elected unopposed, while one position remains to be filled by nomination.
FILE - Hari Dhakal (left) and Asim Shah
Similarly, Hari Dhakal, Asim Shah, and Nisha Dangi have been elected as joint general secretaries.
Dhakal and Shah were elected joint general secretaries under the open category.
Dhakal is a member of the House of Representatives, while Shah is the political advisor to Prime Minister Balen Shah and previously served as a lawmaker under the proportional representation system.
Meanwhile, Dangi was elected joint general secretary under the women’s category. She received 767 votes in the election held on Friday.
She was previously elected as a central member of the party.
Dangi, who hails from Jhapa, is a member of the House of Representatives and also serves as a party whip. In the previous Parliament, she served as a lawmaker from the RSP under the proportional representation system.
FILE - Nisha Dangi
The RSP structure provides for five joint general secretaries. Friday’s election was held for three of those positions (including one designated for a woman), while the remaining two positions are to be appointed by the party president.
There were 15 candidates for the three contested positions.
The candidates for joint general secretary positions under the open category included Asim Shah, Ramesh Prasai, Yagya Mani Neupane, Sulav Kharel, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Milan Limbu, Rajiv Khatri, Bijay Jairu, Hari Dhakal, and Himesh Panta.
The candidates for woman joint general secretary included Julie Yadav, Bidushi Rana, Kamini Kumari Chaudhary, Nisha Dangi, and Rima Bishwokarma.
