KATHMANDU: Harka Raj Rai (Sampang), the chairman of the Shram Sanskriti Party, has been elected to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Sunsari-1.

He defeated Goma Tamang (Sarin), a candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), by a margin of 8,492 votes to secure a seat in Parliament. Sampang received 35,741 votes, while Tamang secured 27,249 votes.

In the 2022 HoR election, Goma Tamang had contested from Sunsari-1 but was defeated by Ashok Kumar Rai, a candidate of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal.

Rai, who had the support of the CPN (UML), was elected with 17,059 votes, while Goma received 16,606 votes. She was nominated by RSP as a candidate for the second time, but lost on both occasions.

Meanwhile, Sampang had been elected Mayor of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City in the 2022 local elections as an independent candidate. He won with 20,821 votes, while Kishor Rai of the Nepali Congress received 16,059 votes and Manju Bhandari of CPN (UML) secured 12,825 votes.

Earlier, in the 2019 by-election for the mayor of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City, Sampang had contested but lost after receiving only 422 votes.

Later, as public dissatisfaction with traditional political parties increased, he ran in 2022 with popular slogans such as solving the drinking water problem.

Sampang, who launched a campaign to develop the city through voluntary labor, also became involved in several controversies. He resigned before completing his term as mayor and established the Shram Sanskriti Party.