NC, UML, and JSP reach seat-sharing deal for NA elections

Kathmandu- In a significant shift in political alliances, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (UML), and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) have finalized a seat-sharing agreement for 18 upcoming National Assembly seats. The move effectively sidelines Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led Nepali Communist Party (NCP) from the coordination.

Following a series of negotiations where consensus with the NCP failed, the three parties agreed on the following distribution:

NC: 9 seats

UML: 8 seats

JSP: 1 seat

Nepali Communist Party exited the negotiations after its demand for four seats was rejected. Both NC and UML maintained that they would not concede more than three seats to Maoist Center.

Following the collapse of these talks, NCP has announced its intention to field solo candidates across all provinces.

Immediately following the three-party agreement, Nepali Congress finalized its list of nine candidates. Notably, the party addressed internal factionalism by allocating three spots to the Dr Shekhar Koirala camp.

The candidates representing the Koirala faction include Ranjit Karna, Basudev Jangali, Gita Devkota.

The National Assembly elections are seen as a litmus test for party strengths ahead of the upcoming legislative sessions. With the ruling and main opposition parties joining forces for these seats, the political landscape appears to be heading toward a new alignment.