Thinley Namgay

Kelzang Lhundup, 48, the National Council (NC) MP-elect from Lhuentse attributes his success in the recently concluded elections to postal ballot (PB) voters.

Kelzang Lhundup from Maenbi Gewog defeated Tshering Penjor from Minjey Gewog by a narrow margin of 86 votes in the highly contested NC election in Lhuentse. Although he was trailing behind Tshering Penjor by 440 votes in Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) votes, he eventually emerged victorious as his PB votes surpassed his opponent  by 526.

Kelzang Lhundup acquired 4,600 votes, out of which 2,581 were obtained through PB and 2,019 from EVM. Tshering Penjor received 4,514 votes, including 2,459 EVM and 2,055 PB votes.

“I want to thank all the voters. Particularly, I want to thank civil servants for supporting me through PB. I must say that people have understood about the election,” Kelzang Lhundup said.

He added that serving the tsawa-sum by respecting the sanctity of the Constitution and prioritising his pledges.

Moreover, Kelzang Lhundup said the lack of seats in the education system for Class XII arts students was a significant problem. He also mentioned his desire to discuss this matter with the education and skills development ministry if possible.

Additionally, he expressed his intention to work towards reducing the bureaucratic processes for building lhakhang or goendey and obtaining timber permits.

According to the voters in Lhuentse, Kelzang Lhundup’s experience as a dzongkhag engineer for the past 11 years gave him an added advantage in this election.

One of the voters stated, “Most people of Lhuentse are familiar with Kelzang Lhundup. One reason for his victory could be his 26 years of work experience.”

The people of Lhuentse expect Kelzang Lhundup to push for essential matters in parliament concerning Lhuentse, such as building a double-lane road from Mongar,

ensuring adequate medical facilities in the dzongkhag hospital, and reducing inflation.

One of the voters stated, “Lhuentse town still did not have basic modern facilities such as public toilets, salons, medical shops, and entertainment avenues, among others.”

Lhuentse has a total of 18,479 eligible voters, but only around 50 percent participated in the election.