MAHOTTARI: After 84-year-old Mahantha Thakur, chairperson of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP), Nepal, filed his candidacy for the National Assembly, a search has begun for a new candidate for the House of Representatives (HoR) from Mahottari Constituency No. 3. Thakur had been elected twice consecutively as an HoR member from that constituency.

Thakur is regarded as a shrewd player in parliamentary politics. After becoming weak in his home district of Sarlahi, he made Mahottari-3 his electoral constituency. However, even after winning the election, he was unable to make a tangible contribution to the development of Mahottari-3.

Despite his advanced age and poor health, Thakur is keen on becoming a member of the National Assembly. This time, he is seeking election to the National Assembly with the support of the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal).

Thakur is a permanent resident of Nayabasti in Malangawa Municipality, Sarlahi. In the 2017 election, he won the HoR seat from Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal, securing 26,845 votes. At that time, his closest rival, UML’s Bijay Kumar Chaudhary, received 8,676 votes. In the 2022 election, Thakur won again from LSP-Nepal, obtaining 16,375 votes, while his nearest competitor, JSP-Nepal candidate Harinarayan Yadav, secured 14,325 votes.

Some believe that one of the reasons Thakur is leaving Mahottari-3, where he won twice consecutively, in the twilight of his political life is Kathmandu Mayor and senior Rastriya Swatantra Party leader Balendra Shah (Balen). In view of discussions and possibilities that Balen might contest elections from Mahottari-3 this time, many think Thakur opted for a National Assembly candidacy. Others analyze that Thakur vacated his constituency to make way for Upendra Yadav, chairperson of JSP-Nepal.

Thakur did not contest the 2008 Constituent Assembly election from this constituency; instead, he was nominated as a Constituent Assembly member. From 1991 to 2008, those elected from this constituency were Harishankar Mishra, Mahendra Rai, Ramchandra Tiwari, and Ganesh Tiwari. Among them, Mahendra Rai and Constituent Assembly member Tiwari have passed away. Mishra has served as the provincial chief of Madhesh Province. In the 2013 second Constituent Assembly election, UML’s Ramdayal Mandal won. He was the first Dalit to be elected from this constituency, and his victory ended the long-standing dominance of a single caste in Mahottari-3.

After Thakur became a National Assembly candidate, the search for a new candidate in Mahottari-3 has intensified ahead of the March 5 election. From the Nepali Congress, former MP Ramchandra Tiwari has begun campaigning as a potential candidate. Similarly, from JSP-Nepal, there is discussion that Constituent Assembly members Ramkumar Sharma and Harinarayan Yadav may be candidates.

In Mahottari-3, the electoral base of communist parties is weaker than that of the Nepali Congress and the UML. Sharma, who was elected from the Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party in the first Constituent Assembly election, later joined the Maoists and is now again affiliated with JSP-Nepal.

Yadav, who began his political career with the Nepali Congress, is a former minister. There is also discussion that Ramadhar Kapar from the UML and Bijay Kumar Chaudhary from the CPN may file candidacies. After Thakur, who among party-affiliated or independent candidates will win from Mahottari-3 is difficult to predict at this stage.