KATHMANDU, March 11: The results of the House of Representatives election, held on March 5 for 165 seats, have been officially released. In the first-past-the-post system, a total of 14 women were elected, of whom 13 belong to the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and one to the Nepali Congress. Among the elected women, Indira Rana Magar from Jhapa Constituency No. 2 received the highest number of votes.
According to the Election Commission, Indira secured 60,110 votes to win. She had contested as a candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, while her nearest rival was former Speaker Devraj Ghimire from the UML, who received only 11,338 votes. Indira had previously served as a proportional representation member of the House of Representatives in the 2079 elections.
In this election, 3,406 candidates contested in the direct system, of which 395 were women, representing an 11 percent female participation. The 14 women elected make up 8.48 percent of the total winners.
The 13 women elected from the Rastriya Swatantra Party include 55-year-old Indira Rana Magar (Jhapa-2), 33-year-old Sobita Gautam (Chitwan-3), 36-year-old Rubina Acharya (Morang-6), 34-year-old Nisha Dangi (Jhapa-1), 35-year-old Nitimala Bhandari (Karkee) (Sarlahi-1), 33-year-old Dr Tosima Karki (Lalitpur-3), and 32-year-old Ashika Tamang (Dhading-1). Additionally, RSP’s Pushpa Kumari Chaudhary (Saptari-1, 38), Bina Gurung (Kaski-3, 40), Asha Jha (Morang-5, 37), Gauri Kumari (Mahottari-4, 42), Komal Gyawali (Kailali-1, 41), and Ranju Darshana (Kathmandu-1, 31) also won. Nepali Congress’ Basana Thapa (Dailekh-1, 44) was the only woman elected from her party.
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In this election, the major parties fielded 11 women from Nepali Congress and 16 women from RSP.
Dr Tosima Karki of RSP was elected for the second time from Lalitpur-3, securing 43,096 votes, defeating her Nepali Congress rival Jitendra Kumar Shrestha, who received 9,045 votes. A medical professional by training, Dr Karki had been at the forefront of health services during the 2072 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sobita Gautam of RSP won Chitwan-3, defeating Renu Dahal of the Nepali Communist Party with 59,277 votes to Renu’s 20,615. Sobita, a lawyer by profession, had previously hosted health-related programs on Nepal Television.
Ranju Neupane, who entered politics at the young age of 19, won Kathmandu-1 representing RSP with 15,455 votes, defeating Nepali Congress candidate Prabhal Thapa, who received 6,364 votes. Ranju had previously contested for Kathmandu mayor independently at the age of 21 in 2074 and was earlier affiliated with the Bibeksheel Nepali Party in 2070.
Rubina Acharya (RSP) defeated Nepali Congress’ Shekhar Koirala in Morang-6, securing 55,513 votes to Koirala’s 12,850. Bina Gurung won Kaski-3 with 37,750 votes, defeating her NC rival Manoj Gurung, who received 12,780 votes. Komal Gyawali won Kailali-1 with 17,862 votes, defeating NC; Jankaraj Chaudhary, who received 12,870 votes. Nisha Dangi (RSP) won Jhapa-1 with 45,680 votes, defeating NC’ Keshav Raj Pandey, who received 10,550 votes; Nisha had previously worked as a media professional before entering politics.
Nitimala Bhandari (RSP) won Sarlahi-1 with 30,434 votes, defeating NC’s Shambhulal Shrestha, who received 7,871 votes. Asha Jha (RSP) won Morang-5 with 30,434 votes, defeating Congress’ Phoolkumar Lalwani, who received 9,415 votes. Ashika Tamang won Dhading-1 with 39,128 votes, defeating UML’s Bhumiprasad Tripathi, continuing her advocacy for marginalized communities. Pushpa Kumari Chaudhary (RSP) won Saptari-1 with 38,195 votes, defeating Swabhiman Party’s Sumit Kumar, who received 7,847 votes. Gauri Kumari (RSP) won Mahottari-4 with 30,132 votes, defeating Janata Samajwadi Party’s Surendra Kumar Yadav, who received 8,742 votes. Basana Thapa of Nepali Congress won Dailekh-1 with 12,372 votes, defeating UML’s Rabindra Raj Sharma, who received 11,796 votes.
Previously, six women were elected in 2074 and nine in 2079. This year, the increased participation and victories of women against male candidates by large margins have been seen as a significant development in Nepalese politics.
