Rupandehi-3 by-election heats up with RSP candidate list

KATHMANDU: The by-election in Rupandehi Constituency No. 3 has stirred significant political excitement.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has further intensified the buzz by releasing its preliminary list of potential candidates.

The list, featuring nine aspirants, includes members from families with strong political ties to the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) as well as young candidates who have returned from the United States specifically to contest this by-election, capturing widespread attention.

Among the most talked-about figures in the list is Parthivendra Upadhyaya, ranked second. He hails from a family deeply rooted in UML politics; his father, Dhanapati Upadhyaya, was a former UML parliamentarian, and his mother, Pushpanjali Upadhyaya, is also a UML leader.

Adding to the political legacy, his wife Uma Adhikari currently serves as the Deputy Mayor of Siddharthanagar Municipality, elected under the UML banner.

Despite coming from such a strong UML political lineage, Parthivendra claims to have always stood for alternative politics.

Having resigned from his position as head of Rupandehi Campus to join the electoral race, he asserts that although his family belongs to UML, he has never been attracted to the party’s working style.

He recalls contesting the 2017 elections as a candidate from the Bibeksheel Sajha Party and expresses confidence that RSP is the appropriate platform to address the region’s issues, which he understands intimately.

Equally intriguing is the story of Sulabh Kharel, the candidate listed first by RSP. A law student residing in the United States, Kharel has returned to Nepal specifically to participate in this by-election. He describes party President Rabi Lamichhane’s supporters, who aided legally in a cooperative fraud case, as dedicated party workers.

The list also includes individuals from various professions and sectors, such as neurosurgeon Dr. Lekhajung Thapa, experienced NGO leader and recent cooperative activist Ghanu Paudyal, and Jit Bahadur (Shekhar) Gupta, who previously ran as a RSP candidate in past elections.

Other notable names on the list are Kusum Maharjan from Bhaktapur, party regional chairperson Madhu Prakash Aryal, RSP Rupandehi’s treasurer Rachana Kshetri, and female entrepreneur Poonam Kumari Agrawal.

The prominence of candidates with UML backgrounds in RSP’s list signals a highly competitive and intriguing by-election ahead in Rupandehi Constituency No. 3.