Prakash Kafle/Kathmandu. In the House of Representatives election, former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been defeated by a large margin in Jhapa-5. He lost to Balendra (Balen) Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
Balen secured victory with 68,348 votes, while his main rival Oli received 18,734 votes. Balen defeated Oli by a margin of 49,614 votes. Samir Tamang of the Shram Sanskriti Party finished in third place, while Mandhara Chimariya of the Nepali Congress came fourth. Tamang obtained 9,233 votes, whereas Chimariya received 1,821 votes. Oli had been elected multiple times from Jhapa-5 in the past, whereas this was Balen’s first candidacy in a parliamentary election. During the campaign, the Rastriya Swatantra Party presented Balen as a potential future Prime Minister. Before contesting the parliamentary election, he had resigned from his position as the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City to enter national politics.
