NC to field Khemraj Poudel in Kaski-2 by-election

KATHMANDU, Nov 6: The main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) has picked Khemraj Poudel for the House of Representatives by-election in Kaski constituency 2.

A meeting of the party held at the residence of President Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to field Poudel for the November by-election.

Earlier, NC district chapter Kaski had sent a name list of 16 aspirants to the central committee for the constituency as the party failed to make consensus on one candidate.

The constituency remains vacant after Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation died in a helicopter crash in Taplejung in February last year.

Ruling NCP has fielded the wife of late minister Adhikari Bidya Bhattarai in the constituency while Samajbadi Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have nominated Dharma Raj Gurung and Rom Bahadur Bhandari as their candidates respectively.

The by-election, scheduled for Nov 30, which will elect one House of Representative member, three Province Assembly members, three Rural Municipality chairs, one Rural Municipality vice-chair and 43 ward chairs in 37 districts.