Prachanda Announces No Electoral Pact With Other Parties, Asserts Party Stands Alone

Kathmandu – Nepali Communist Party Coordinator Prachanda Rules Out Electoral Alliances Ahead of February Election.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda,” co-chairman of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), has briefed party leaders that his party will contest the upcoming Feb. 21 general election without forming an electoral alliance with any other political party.

Speaking during a central election mobilization committee meeting held virtually over Zoom, Prachanda said that even without a coalition, the NCP is confident of winning a significant number of seats. Participants, including senior leaders and candidates, strongly supported the decision to run independently.

The proposal for an electoral pact reportedly came from the CPN-UML after the UML offered cooperation in a few constituencies — including Jhapa-5, where UML chairman KP Sharma Oli is contesting, and Dang-2, the seat of UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel. But leaders and activists within the NCP stood firmly against any formal alliance.

One leader at the meeting, Lila Mani Pokharel, quoted Prachanda as saying: “We will become the leading party without forming a coalition with anyone.”

Although the NCP is a merger of several parties — including the Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist — which previously entered elections with coalitions, the current strategy is to avoid broad electoral cooperation. The party has made one exception, however: in Baglung District, the NCP is supporting Krishna Adhikari of the Rastriya Janamorcha in Baglung-1, while NCP candidate Gyannath Gaire will run as a joint candidate in Baglung-2.