Rabi Lamichhane, the President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has clinched a victory in Nepal’s House of Representatives from Chitwan Constituency-2 with an impressive lead. Lamichhane secured 54,402 votes, surpassing his closest rival, Meena Kharel of the Nepali Congress, who received 14,564 votes.
This marks Lamichhane’s third win from the same constituency, establishing his party’s dominance in Chitwan over the past three years. Initially elected in the 2022 parliamentary elections, Lamichhane faced a setback when the Supreme Court invalidated his citizenship certificate, leading to the loss of his lawmaker status.
Following a legal dispute, Lamichhane was stripped of his parliamentary seat, Home Minister position, and party presidency. However, he made a successful comeback in the April 2023 bye-elections, securing a re-election to the House with increased voter support.
Despite past controversies related to alleged fraud in cooperative institutions, Lamichhane’s political alliance with former rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah has proven strategic. The RSP, under their leadership, has emerged victorious in 20 seats and is leading in 95 constituencies out of the 165 contested under the First-Past-the-Post system.
Traditional political factions like the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML) are significantly trailing behind the RSP in the ongoing vote tally.
