The former National Council (NC) member of Tsirang, Kamal Bahadur Gurung lost by one vote to a tour guide Ramesh Chhetri Bhandari, 33, at the Mendrelgang gewog’s dhamngoi zomdu (nomination meeting) yesterday.

Ramesh won the nomination by securing 218 votes. Kamal Bahadur Gurung secured 217 votes. The third candidate, Udaya Narayan Bhattarai, secured just 64 votes.

Of the total 2,312 registered voters, 499 turned up to cast their votes yesterday.

Dhamngoi zomdu for the upcoming National Council election in Tsirang began yesterday with two gewogs.

In Gosarling gewog, a graduate of Gedu College of Business Studies, Hom Nath Thapa, 30, won against his two opponents. Hom Nath won by securing 156 votes. His two opponents Damber Kumar Ghimiray and Anand Karki secured 119 and 88 votes respectively.

At the gewog centre, 363 people came to vote yesterday. Gosarling gewog has 1,688 registered voters.

People voted from 10am until 3pm. Results were declared immediately in the presence of the candidates and voters who chose to stay back.

One of the elderly voters in Mendrelgang, Choki Zam, 76, said she came to cast vote because she considers election important. “The kind of candidate that wins makes a difference in shaping the future of our children and grandchildren.”

She said her vision is poor but she could clearly see the candidate she chose to vote for.

Other voters shared that they are looking for someone who cared to listen to people and considered all equal while visiting them during the recent familiarisation tour.

They said experience does not matter so long a candidate can express the concerns of people at the national level.

“It is crucial that a candidate be vocal and insightful, as they could take the issues to the parliament,” Sangay, 25, said. To nominate the candidate, Sangay came all the way from Drukjyegang to caste her vote yesterday.

Among the 11 gewogs, Gosarling and Mendrelgang had the maximum aspiring NC candidates with three each. There are two candidates each from Tsirangtoed, Kilkhorthang, Tsholingkhar and Barshong. The other four gewogs of Phungtenchhu, Doonglagang, Patshaling and Rangthaling have a candidate each. Semjong gewog does not have any NC aspirants.

Dhamngoi zomdu for Tsholingkhar and Tsirangtoed gewogs will be held tomorrow.

Nirmala Pokhrel | Tsirang

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