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Twelve former ministers are in the race for the elections to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5 in Sudurpaschim Province.

Major political parties have fielded the former ministers as the candidates in the province which have 16 constituencies. 

Twelve candidates of the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and Nepali Communist Party (NCP), who already served as ministers in federal and provincial governments, are contesting the elections.

NC picked Narayan Prasad Saud as the candidate in Kanchanpur constituency-2. Saud was the federal minister for multiple times. Except Saud, all candidates from the NC in Sudurpaschim are new, said NC Sudurpaschim Province Joint General-Secretary, Chinta Mani Bhatta.  

Similarly, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NCP, Bhim Bahadur Rawal, is in the race from Achham constituency-1. 

Similarly, former federal ministers Prem Ale and Bina Magar are the candidates from the same party in Kailali constituency-5 and Kanchanpur constituency-1 respectively. 

Trilochan Bhatta, also the former Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province government, filed his candidacy from Doti, while former minister Prakash Bahadur Shah from Bajura and former minister in province Man Bahadur Rai from Kanchanpur constituency-3. 

Likewise, UML candidate from Darchula, Ganesh Singh Thagunna from Baitadi, Damodar Bhandari, are also the former federal ministers.   

Former Minister and UML's Deputy General Secretary Lekh Raj Bhatta, former federal minister Gauri Shankar Chaudhary are competing from Kailali constituency-4 and Kailali constituency-3 respectively.

Jhapat Bahadur Bohara, who has filed his candidacy from Achham constituency-1, is former minister in Sudurpaschim Province.

It is estimated that there would be a tough competition among the candidates of the NC, UML, NCP and Rastriya Swatantra Party in Sudurpaschim Province. 

The Province has a total 1.71 million voters and 206 candidates for 16 constituencies, according to the Province Election Office, Dhangadhi.

Mahottari has fielded seven former ministers in the elections to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5. 

Girajraj Mani Pokhrel, former Minister for Health and Population, is contesting from Mahottari-1 on behalf of the Nepali Communist Party.  He faces competition with former lawmaker of CPN-UML, Laxmi Mahato, and Nepali Congress' candidate Mukesh Kafle in the constituency.

From Mahottari-2, the Janata Samajbadi Party has picked former Minister for Labour, Employment, and Transport Sharad Singh Bhandari as its official candidate. 

He is competing against Nepali Congress' former lawmaker Kiran Yadav and UML’s Kasim Nadaf.

Mahottari-3 has two former ministers in the fray: former Agriculture Minister Hari Narayan Yadav, and former Minister of State for Home Affairs Mohammad Rizwan. Yadav has registered his independent candidacy after the Janata Samajbadi Party declined to grant him the party ticket, while Rizwan is contesting on behalf of the Federal Socialist Party Nepal. 

Other candidates in the constituency include independent Ramadhar Kapar, Nepali Congress’ Bajrang Nepal, JSP Nepal’s Minakshi Thakur, Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Ujjwal Kumar Jha, and UML’s Manoj Kumar Singh.

In Mahottari-4, former Agriculture Minister Mahendra Kumar Raya, former Minister of State for Health Dr Surendra Yadav, and former Province Home Minister Bharat Prasad Shah are in the electoral race. 

Raya is representing the Nepali Congress, Dr Yadav is from JSP Nepal, and Shah is contesting from the NCP, alongside UML candidate Nilam Adhikari, drawing attention to the constituency, as the election approaches.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has issued a circular to all 753 local levels and 77 district coordination committees reminding them to enforce the Election Code of Conduct, 2082.

The subordinates are asked to effectively enforce the Election Code in their respective areas, according to Dipesh Kattel, section officer at the Ministry.

The Election Code was published in the gazette on December 27.

It has been enforced since the midnight of January 18.

The Election Code of Conduct has 10 chapters, 5 schedules and 55 clauses.

The Election Commission (EC) has brought the Joint Election Operation Center into operation to immediately resolve any issues that appear in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections.

The Office of the Center is at the premises of the EC, Kathmandu. 

Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari inaugurated the Center on Sunday.

Bhandari said that the Center will act immediately to resolve the issues in the constituencies if they are not addressed from the concerned voting centres. 

Secretary at the EC will lead the Center with a Joint Secretary from the Home Ministry and representatives from the security bodies as members.

The Center will collect information, analyse and take immediate decisions to proceed with the election process, it has been said.