Banke-3 remains wide open as Koirala fighting a hard battle

NEPALGUNJ, NOV 04 -

During his recent election campaign in Banke, Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala declared that like everyone else he and his party, too, were searching for identity through the CA polls.

In the 2008 election, Koirala had suffered a defeat at his home constituency Banke-3. Sarbadev Prasad Ojha from Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Nepal (MJF-N) was elected with 14,900 votes. With only 5,969 votes, Koirala trialed behind Parma Nanda Kumari of CPN (Maoist), who came in second with 6,970 votes.

The NC president is hoping to turn around his performance this time. For this, Koirala and his supporters have changed their campaign strategy to appeal to voters. Unlike in the previous election campaign, Koirala is reaching out to voters, promising them development.

Koirala never doled assurances in the past. If guarantee of development works can attract voters, then Koirala is not wasting this opportunity. He is not risking another defeat. Neither are Koirala’s supporters, who are promoting him as the future prime minister of the country.

“The people of Banke have the opportunity to elect one of their own as the prime minister,” said Ananda Dhungana, Koirala’s campaign manager.

Banke is largely dominated by Madhesi and Muslim communities. Their votes will have a decisive role as to who will be elected from the three constituencies. There are around 13,000 Muslim voters in Banke-3. To secure his victory, Koirala has fielded 19 candidates under proportional quota. Nine are from Banke-3. Koirala’s win is still uncertain, though.

There is a widespread discontent in the Muslim community of Banke that NC, UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML did not nominate a Muslim candidate. The Muslim voters are still undecided, said Attahar Hussein Farookhi, UCPN (Maoist) district in-charge.  “There are 5,000-7,000 swing voters in Banke-3 alone. If a candidate manages to attract over 4,000 of those voters then he will win the election,” he said. Local Muslim leaders are holding regular meetings to pick an alternate to the major candidates vying in the election. “Over 60 percent of the Muslim votes will go to the candidate that the meeting has agreed on,” said Mohammad Harun Halwai, a local Muslim leader.  

Meanwhile, Koirala and his rivals Damodar Acharya of UCPN (Maoist), Pashupati Dayal Mishra of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP), Dhawal Shumsher Rana of Rasrtriya Prajatantra Party Nepal and Bijaya Dhital of UML are vying to court the support of Muslims to win the election. If the past trend is to be taken into considered, Banke is known for producing unpredictable outcome.

Disintegration of the Madhesi parties has furthered the uncertainty. There are 14 candidates from Madhes parties from Banke-3. It is too soon to forecast which party will receive the largest number of Madhesi votes. Will Koirala succeed in affirming his position in his home constituency?  It all depends on the undecided votes of the Muslims and Madhesis.

Poll won’t be put off: Koirala

NEPALGUNJ: Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala has said that the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election slated for November 19 will not be postponed under any circumstances.

Koirala said the CPN-Maoist has the right to boycott the election but not foil it. He said discussions regarding the ways to induct CPN-Maoist in the new CA are being held.  “Baidyaji has said his party will boycott the election in a peaceful manner. I believe a leader of his stature will surely stick to his words,” said Koirala, while addressing an election function at Banke-3 in Nepalgunj on Sunday. He claimed that the constitution can only be drafted if his party emerges victorious in the CA election. “Everyone is searching for identity now. Even I arrived here searching for the identity of the NC,” he said. (PR)