JUMLA: Gyan Bahadur Shahi of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has been elected to the House of Representatives from Jumla, securing 14,816 votes and defeating Naresh Bhandari of the Nepali Communist Party by a margin of 3,181 votes. Bhandari received 11,635 votes.

Deep Bahadur Shahi of the Nepali Congress finished third with 7,143 votes, followed by Shanti Lal Mahat of CPN (UML) with 4,518 votes. Binita Kathayat of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party received 421 votes, while Birkh Bahadur Rawat of the Majdoor Kisan Party obtained 400 votes and Manrishi Dhital of the Progressive Democratic Party secured 113 votes.

Out of 71,739 registered voters, 40,878 ballots were cast, with 1,700 votes declared invalid.

Shahi, a central committee member and spokesperson of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, has now been elected from Jumla for the second time. He first won the seat in 2022, defeating Goma Gautam of the then CPN (Maoist Centre) by 10,860 votes, securing 22,819 votes.

Known for his strong speeches in parliament, Shahi earlier gained prominence as an anti-corruption activist on social media before joining the RPP ahead of the 2022 election. His activism also led to several police detentions, including an arrest while distributing relief during the COVID-19 pandemic and another incident involving journalists in Surkhet on April 14, 2019.

Born in Jumla, Shahi completed his schooling there before studying I.Sc., which is equivalent to Grades 11-12, at Tri-Chandra College in Kathmandu. He later traveled to New Delhi, India, to pursue chartered accountancy but returned without completing the program.