Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) introduced its second candidate at the party’s head office in Thimphu yesterday.

Nim Gyeltshen, 35, is from Wangdue’s Athang- Thedtsho constituency. He comes from Lhamakha village in Bjena gewog and owns a sawmill in Wangdue and a travel agency in Thimphu.

On August 3, DPT announced the former Dzongkhag Tshogdu chairman of Paro, Phub Tshering, as the party’s candidate for the Lamgong-Wangchung constituency.

Party leaders say that the announcements of two candidates in as many weeks have demystified the rumour that DPT would not participate in the parliamentary elections due next year.

Nim Gyeltshen said that it was DPT’s ideology of “equity and justice” that motivated him to join the party. DPT has always placed the nation’s interests before that of the party, he added.

“Despite all sorts of rumours, my support for the party has remained strong since 2008,” he said.

Nim Gyeltshen also worked as a teacher in Kuenga Higher Secondary School.

DPT President Pema Gyamtsho (PhD) said that his party was the “most loyal and dedicated” party with a proven record. “As a party comprising members with “decades of experience” in serving the nation, it is the duty of our party to work towards achieving the vision of the monarch and the aspirations of the people.”

In the upcoming elections, the party has big shoes to fill, as some of the party’s senior MPs – South Thimphu’s Yeshey Zimba, Lamgong-Wangchang’s Khandu Wangchuk, Khar-Yurung’s Zangley Dukpa and Gangzur Minjey’s Karma Rangdol – cannot contest in the upcoming parliamentary election due to the age limit.

The party said that it has identified candidates in the constituency of the retiring members. “We are very comfortable with candidates,” he said.

Phub Tshering told Kuensel on the phone that he believes in the party’s “vision and mission”. “DPT is a party with a long-term vision,” he said.

“Having worked in the local government, I’m well-versed on the issues facing the people at the grass-roots level,” he said.

MB Subba