Several prominent leaders of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have been disqualified from contesting the elections to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5.

Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa, CPN-UML Secretary duo Rajan Bhattarai and Sherdhan Rai have been placed on the blacklist of the Election Commission.

Thapa was a candidate from the Congress and Bhattarai from the UML in Kathmandu-4 in the last election held in 2022.

Thapa defeated Bhattarai by a huge margin.

Similarly, Sherdhan Rai had contested the election from Bhojpur-1. Sudan Kiranti of the CPN (Maoist Center) had defeated Rai.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that the candidates, who did not submit the detailed election expenses report to the Commission within the specified time and did not make it public to the voters following the 2022 elections, are on the "black list" of the Commission.

Thapa,  Bhattarai and Rai are among the 1,800 candidates, who have been placed on the black list of the Election Commission for not complying with the EC directive. 

"According to the law, individuals,  who fail to comply with the decision of the Commission, will be ineligible to contest the elections set for March 5," Bhandari added.