Prakash Kafle/Kathmandu. The decades-long political dominance of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) in Bhaktapur-1 has come to an end in the latest parliamentary election. Rukesh Ranjit, candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), was elected to the House of Representatives with 33,436 votes, defeating NWPP’s Prem Suwal by a margin of 5,289 votes. Suwal secured 28,147 votes. Candidates from other major parties lagged far behind. Kiran Neupane of the Nepali Congress finished third with 4,282 votes, while Som Mishra of CPN-UML received 3,721 votes. Most other candidates failed to secure enough votes to retain their deposits.
Bhaktapur-1 had been a stronghold of NWPP since 1991, with party chairman Narayan Man Bijukchhe ‘Rohit’ winning the seat five consecutive times. Later, Prem Suwal continued the party’s winning streak by securing victory in two elections.
The NWPP has long been credited for its governance in Bhaktapur Municipality, particularly in areas such as education, healthcare, heritage conservation, and waste management. The municipality’s system of separating waste at the source and producing compost from organic waste has often been cited as a model for other local governments.
Despite this legacy, the recent election reflected a broader wave of political change across the country. Voters in Bhaktapur-1 also embraced a new political alternative, bringing an end to the NWPP’s long-standing electoral dominance in the constituency.
भक्तपुर–१ मा नेमकिपाको लामो वर्चस्व समाप्त, रास्वपाको ऐतिहासिक जित
