UMl names candidate for ilam by-election
As speculated earlier, the CPN-UML has picked Suhang Nembang, the son of the late Subas Nembang, as its candidate in the byelection for a seat of the House of Representatives in Ilam constituency-2. The seat of the House of Representatives has remained vacant since the sudden demise of Subas Nembang on September 12 last year. Subas was elected in all five elections he has contested since 1999 in Ilam-2. He had defeated Kul Bahadur Gurung of the Nepali Congress in the 1999 general elections in the constituency. He was elected in both the elections of the Constituency Assembly held in 2008 and 2013, and the House of Representatives elections in 2017 and 2022. The late Nembang was UML vice chairman and deputy leader of the UML in parliament when he died. Earlier, he served as the Speaker and Chairman of the Constituency Assembly.
In the latest election held on November 20, 2022, Nembang defeated NC candidate Dambar Khadka with a narrow margin of 114 votes. As Suhang was not been familiar among the voters as his late father and several other senior party leaders were willing to contest the bypoll, it would not be easier for junior Nembang to make it to the parliament. However, the UML applied its strength to make Suhang victorious, and he even became the common candidate of the ruling parties.
A clear picture of the contest will come only after the Nepali Congress and Rastriya Swatantra Party name their candidate. If NC fields Bheshraj Acharya, who has played a key role in building party organisation in Ilam2, it will be difficult for Suhang to defeat Acharya. Likewise, results will also be affected by the RSP candidate.
The RSP has not yet decided on its candidate, but rumours have it that Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is contesting the election from the RSP. If Dr. Bhattarai becomes a candidate as rumoured, he can win the election, as he could also collect the votes of the Maoists. Likewise, a section in the RSP has been floating Dharma Gautam, the former NC leader, as their candidate, and if Gautam is picked by the RSP, then he is almost sure to win the poll because he can derive many of the NC votes as he is popular in the masses.
Meanwhile, RSS has also floated the name of Milan Limbu as its candidate. A journalist affiliated with the CPN (Maoist Centre), Limbu may also not be a strong candidate. Anyway, it will not be easy for both the NC and UML candidates to win the election if the RSP picks one among Bhattarai and Gautam as its candidate because of the growing frustration of people towards old parties.