When Nepal heads to the polls on March 5, two key constituencies along India’s open border — Dadeldhura, adjoining Uttarakhand’s Champawat, and Ilam, bordering West Bengal’s Darjeeling — will not feature the leaders long associated with them. Former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Jhala Nath Khanal have both stepped aside following violent Gen Z-led protests that targeted political figures and their residences.
For the first time since the restoration of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, neither Deuba nor Khanal will contest from the constituencies that had become synonymous with their political identities.
Deuba, a five-time prime minister and senior leader of the Nepali Congress, is not contesting from Dadeldhura — a seat he had held since 1991. His decision comes amid internal turmoil within the party. A faction led by Gagan Thapa removed him from the party presidency during a special convention, a move later recognised by the Election Commission as the official leadership.
In eastern Nepal, Khanal — a former prime minister and senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) — is also absent from the race in Ilam-1, which he represented over multiple terms spanning decades. During the recent unrest, his residence in Ilam was attacked, with incidents of arson reported and members of his household sustaining injuries.
The violence cut across party lines, reflecting broader public discontent rather than factional rivalry. Khanal later informed party leaders that he would not contest this election, saying he wanted to make way for younger leadership in Ilam.
