LG: Eleven gup and 15 mangmi candidates will contest in the local government elections to be held on September 29 in Bumthang. Their nominations were finalised following the conclusion of the chiwog zomdus on August 23.

Despite outnumbering men during the functional literacy tests, there are not many women candidates this time.

Of the three women who contested for the post of mangmi, only Tang’s former mangmi got through. The other two women, one in Ura and the other in Chokhor lost during the chiwog zomdus. No women contested for the post of  gup.

Of the four gewogs, Tang has the most contestants for gup with four, while Chokhor and Chumey have two each. Ura gewog has three gup contestants.

Likewise, Chumey has the most mangmi contestants with five, while Tang has four and Ura and Chokhor gewogs have three each.

Of all the gup contestants, former Chokhor gup Sangla is the only one re-contesting in the dzongkhag. The former gups of Tang and Chumey did not come back while the former Ura gup passed away a few months ago.

Dzongkhag election officer Ugyen Choden said that the woman who contested for the post of mangmi from Zung-ngae chiwog lost by four votes in the second round of voting after both contestants secured the same number in the first round.

Another woman contested for the post of mangmi from Dawathang-Dorjibi-Kashitsawa chiwog but also lost during the zomdu.

Bumthang has a total of around 9,000 eligible voters.

The contestants are still in the process of submitting their documents to the office of the returning officer.

Nima Wangdi | Bumthang

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