Kamal Ghorui
When Nepal votes on March 5, two constituencies along India’s open border – Dadeldhura adjoining Uttarakhand’s Champawat and Ilam bordering West Bengal’s Darjeeling – will be missing the men who defined them for decades. Former PMs Sher Bahadur Deuba and Jhala Nath Khanal have stepped aside in the wake of violent Gen Z protests that targeted both leaders and their residences. For the first time since restoration of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, neither Deuba nor Khanal is in the fray from seats that had become synonymous with their identities.Deuba, five-time PM and senior leader of Nepali Congress, is not contesting from Dadeldhura. It had never happened since 1991. His withdrawal followed internal upheaval within Nepali Congress. A faction led by Gagan Thapa removed him from party presidency at a special convention, and Nepal Election Commission later recognised the Thapa faction as the official leadership. On the eastern frontier, Khanal – former PM and senior leader of Nepal Communist Party (UML) – is also absent from the ballot. He had represented Ilam-1 over multiple terms spanning several decades. During the same wave of unrest, Khanal’s residence in Ilam came under attack. Incidents of arson were widespread at the premises, and serious injuries were reported within his household. The violence, though, cut across party lines, underscoring broader public anger. Khanal later informed party leadership that he would not contest this election, stating he wished to leave space for younger leaders in Ilam.
