Choki Wangmo
Dagaps chose Birendra Chimoria giving him a landslide victory over three other candidates from the dzongkhag when he contested for the second time.
While some agree that they went for change, many said that they went for the most talented candidate who can bring their concerns strongly at the House of Review.
Dagaps said that all of the candidates were equally competent that most of them had difficulty choosing the best.
A voter from lower Gozhi Ugyen Wangchuk said that Birendra Chimoria even after losing in the last elections remained in the villages close to people and prepared well for this election. “He did not complain about losing and supported us well.”
“Birendra Chimoria knows what every household needs because he talked with us. We trust that he will represent us well,” he said.
“He is popular among locals and we know he is talented enough.” said another voter, Gangaram Gurung.
“He served as a teacher in Dagapela middle school and also worked to start a football ground in Dagapela,” said a shopkeeper in Dagapela town, Nado Rinchen.
Some feel that his master’s degree helped the former physical education teacher who served in the dzongkhag before joining politics secure 7,143 votes—1,846 postal ballots and 5,297 electronic voting machine (EVM) votes.
Some voters say that Birendra Chimoria had a strong presence in his gewog in Tsendagang and the neighbouring gewogs such as Gozhi.
There were four candidates from Dagana, each from Tseza, Drujeygang, Geserling, and Tsendagang.
While the candidates Tshechu from Tseza and Dawa from Drujeygang secured votes from their own gewogs, the votes from the remaining 12 gewogs were divided between the incumbent Surjaman Thapa and Birendra Chimoria.
The two had stiff competition in the last election too. In 2018, the incumbent won with postal ballots while Chimoria secured the highest votes through EVM. This time, of the 5,448 postal ballot votes, Biren won over Surjaman Thapa by 95 votes.
This includes the Kana gewog with the majority of the registered voters at 2,858 across five polling stations.
The votes from the three gewogs in Lhamoidzingkha Drungkhag—Karmaling, Nichula, and Lhamoidzingkha—were again divided between the incumbent and the elected MP. Voters say that the incumbent had a stronghold in the drungkhag as he worked with the farmers, particularly in facilitating trade.
“He did so much for us. I am disappointed with the results,” said a voter from the drungkhag.
Of the 27,601 voters in the dzongkhag, 15,678 voted, out of which 10,449—5,459 males and 4,990 females—voted through EVM.