Many Maoist, Madhesi top guns lose in Nepal poll

Many senior leaders in Nepal politics, particularly from the mainstream United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and Madhesi parties, have lost in Tuesday’s constituent assembly elections as counting of votes cast for the 240 first-past-the-post seats continued on Friday across this Himalayan nation.

At least three former deputy prime ministers from the UCPN-M and Madhesi parties have lost the elections, the results of which were declared here by the Election Commission of Nepal.

This follows the defeat Thursday of UCPN-M chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda from the Kathmandu-10 constituency.

From the results that are coming out, it is evident that the people have rejected outright the radical agenda pushed forward jointly by the Maoists and Madhesis and voted for moderate forces like the centre-right Nepali Congress (NC) and moderate Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). 

Since the first Constituent Assembly elections in 2008, the UCPN-M and the Madhesi parties were one in raising radical agenda -- propagating ethnicity-based federalism and directly-elected president system in the new political set-up. 

Madhesi parties had raised the issue of ‘One Madhes-One Pradesh’ as their supporters are mainly from areas bordering India.

Among prominent UCPN-M leaders losing in the elections is outgoing prime minister and senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai who lost to senior CPN (UML) leader Bishnu Poudel in Rupandehi-4 constituency. 

Though Bhattarai was elected from another constituency, Gorkha-1, already, he came third in Rupandehi.

Likewise, another senior Maoist leader and former deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha lost to CPN-UML candidate Subash Thakuri. 

‘I have taken the verdict easily. For a politician, winning or defeating in polls are part of life,’ Shrestha told a news agency.