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The Maoists today continued with their winning streak in the Constituent Assembly election and scored several stunning upsets.
The Maoists secured victories by wide margins and continue to lead
in several dozen constituencies till late tonight.
Initial results indicated that the Maoists could establish themselves as the largest party in the 601-member Assembly of 575 elected and 26 nominated members.
Analysts said the results sufficiently showed that the people wanted peace and development, which the Nepali Congress or the CPN- UML ’could not deliver.’
"People voted for the Maoists wishing for peace and development though threat and fear factors also played a crucial role in this regard," Professor Krishna Pokhrel said.
Out of 52 seats declared till midnight, the Maoists have had the lion’s share of 32, while their rivals UML and Nepali Congress have had to be content with with 9 and 7 respectively.
The Maoists are also leading by wide margins in 49 constituencies across the country, as the NC and UML trail behind, one after another.
Ironically, both these parties were expecting to win a majority of the 240 seats at stake under the first-past-the-post system. Or, at least each was hoping to emerge as the single largest party, leaving the former rebels way below and far behind them.
The Maoist victory sent shock waves in the UML and Congress camps, as top leaders of both parties tumbled in their strongholds and home constituencies, from where they had been elected thrice, in some cases.
One of the super heavyweights to face a humiliating debacle is UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, who lost to a rather little known Maoist challenger Jhakku Prasad Subedi in Kathmandu-2.
Party sources said Nepal, also rallying behind in Rautahat-6, offered to step down as General Secretary, the position that he has been holding since 1993.
Another UML heavy weight Bamdev Gautam lost to Sarala Regmi of Maoist in Bardiya 1, while Raghuji Panta was humbled by Pampha Bhusal by a wide margin.
Nepali Congress acting president, Sushil Koirala finished third in Banke-1, won by Sarva Dev Prasad Ojha of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. Koirala also tendered his resignation from his post.
Nepali Congress’ Khum Bahadur Khadka, elected thrice from Dang, lost heavily to Indra Jeet Tharu of Maoist in Dang-1.
Gobinda Raj Joshi and Chiranjibi Wagle, also elected thrice in the past, lost to Suresh Ale Magar in Tanahu-1 and Parbati Thapa Shrestha in Gorkha-1, respectively. "The results also show that the party workers are disenchanted with the leadership of UML, Congress and Rastriya Prajatantra Party," Pokhrel said.
"These parties could not analyse the situation correctly and were
> detached from the ground reality."(The Himalayan Times)
