Balen Is Preparing To Contest Elections From Jhapa-5 Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah has expressed his desire to contest the House of Representatives elections from Jhapa Constituency No. 5. Balen has indicated that he will be a candidate in the upcoming elections scheduled to be held on Falgun 21 in Jhapa-5, which is also the constituency of CPN-UML Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
In a meeting with a team led by the acting president of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Jhapa, Prakash Pathak, in Kathmandu today (Sunday), Mayor Shah urged them to prepare to stand for re-election from Jhapa-5. An edited excerpt of the conversation with the acting president of the RSS Jhapa, Prakash Pathak, regarding the same meeting:
I heard that you met with Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah today. What was the special event?
–Yes, we met with him today. During the meeting, he expressed interest in the situation in Jhapa-5 and the overall situation in the district. After a long discussion, he has clearly stated that my preparation will start from Jhapa-5.
Did you conduct any survey about the current situation in Jhapa-5?
–Yes, we conducted a survey there independently by conducting an inter-municipal cross-party survey. We took a sample of 1,000 people in each municipality (for example, sending a team from Shivasatakshi to Damak, and a team from Damak to Shivasatakshi) and conducted the survey in an anonymous manner. Out of 1,000 people, 578 people expressed their desire to vote for the ‘bell’ election symbol. At that time, Balen Shah’s name was not even mentioned, only the craze for the bell symbol was observed.
How comfortable do you see Balen contesting the election in Jhapa-5, which is considered to be the stronghold of UML Chairman Oli? Is there no risk?
–There is no risk there. Balen does not even have to go himself. We, the district committee, are determined that we can defeat KP Oli even if we field an independent candidate there or someone from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). We are confident in that, and we do not even need Balen.