When Nepal votes on March 5, two constituencies along India’s open border — Dadeldora, bordering Uttarakhand’s Champawat district, and Ilam, bordering Darjeeling in West Bengal — will be without the men who have defined each of them for decades.
Former Prime Ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Jala Nath Khanal stepped down from their posts in the wake of violent protests targeting the two leaders and their residences. For the first time since the restoration of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, neither Deuba nor Khanal contested the seats that have become synonymous with their identity.Deuba, a five-time prime minister and a senior leader of the Nepali Congress, did not contest from Dadeldora.
This has never happened since 1991. His withdrawal came in the wake of internal unrest within the Nepali Congress Party. A faction led by Jagan Thapa removed him as party president in a special conference, and the Nepal Election Commission later recognized Thapa’s faction as the official leadership. On the eastern border, Khanal – a former prime minister and senior leader of the Nepal Communist Party – also missed the polls. He represented Elam-1 over multiple periods spanning several decades. During the same wave of unrest, Khanal’s home in Ilam was attacked. Arson incidents spread throughout the building, and serious injuries were reported inside his home. However, the violence crossed party lines, highlighting broader public anger.
Khanal later informed the party leadership that he would not contest these elections, explaining that he wished to leave space for younger leaders in Eelam.
