Kathmandu, Nepal, October 11, 2022: With the filing of nominations by candidates for the first-past-the-post (FPTP) seats of the federal and provincial assembly on Sunday, the country has now formally headed towards the elections scheduled for coming November 20.
Candidates of various political parties and independent aspirants filed their nominations for the 165 House of Representatives seats and 330 provincial assembly seats. With the filing of nominations, election fever has gripped the nation as candidates, regardless of representing to the political parties or independent ones have intensified their election campaigns through different means.
In this election, the numbers of independent candidates seem high across the country, thanks to the differences within the political parties, particularly the major parties- Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), CPN Maoist Center and others. Growing dissatisfactions and distractions of the people in the major political parties also helped to fuel on the number of independent candidates.
Many leaders of the different political parties from center to district levels have either resigned from their posts or filed their rebel candidacies against the official candidates of their parties or alliances. The electoral alliance forged by the parties helped to grow the dissatisfaction in the parties and the alliances as well. Almost all the official candidates have to face the challenge posed either by dissatisfied leaders or independent candidates.
The Nepali Congress, CPN Maoist Center, CPN (United Socialist), Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and the Rastriya Janamorcha have filed their candidacies in all 165 FPTP seats. Of which, 90 for Congress, 47 for the CPN (Maoist Centre), 19 for the CPN (Unified Socialist), seven for the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and two for the Rastriya Janamorcha.
Likewise, the CPN-UML-led electoral alliance forged among the Janata Samajbadi Party, the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and Kamal Thapa’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal has filed candidacies in all constituencies.
