Kathmandu, Aug. 27: Nominations have been officially lodged for the upcoming elections of presidents for the 10 thematic committees within the House of Representatives (HoR).

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has disclosed that numerous political parties, including the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, CPN (Unified Socialist), and the Janamat Party, have submitted their nominations for the forthcoming election.

While solitary candidates have been nominated for nine committees, the Industry and Commerce as well as the Labour and Consumer Interest Committee have seen the registration of two candidacies.

Santosh Chalise of the Nepali Congress has been proposed for the position of President for the Finance Committee, whereas Raj Kishore Yadav of the Janata Samajbadi Party is in contention for the role of President for the International Relations and Tourism Committee.

Likewise, Abdul Khan from the Janamat Party and Ganesh Parajuli of the Rastriya Swatantra Party have formally filed their nominations for the Industry and Commerce, and Labour and Consumer Interest Committee, respectively.

Maoist Centre’s Bimala Subedi has stepped forward for the role of President for the Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee, whereas Arju Rana Deuba has been nominated for the Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee. Kiran Kumar Shah will be vying for the presidency of the Women and Social Welfare Affairs Committee, and Ramhari Khatiwada has registered his candidacy for the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee.

Similarly, Deepak Bahadur Singh from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has declared his candidacy for the Infrastructure Development Committee, and Bhanubhakta Joshi, representing the Unified Socialist party, is in the running for the presidency of the Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee.

Rhishikesh Pokhrel, affiliated with the UML party, has formally submitted his candidacy for the Public Account Committee.

The electoral procedures for the thematic committees operating within the House of Representatives have been initiated following a lapse of nine months since the completion of the HoR elections. The postponement in electing committee leaders, often referred to as the ‘mini parliament,’ has affected the functionality of these committees.

Secretary Padma Prasad Pandey has communicated that the Secretariat has provided a schedule for members to register their nominations for the elections, running from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm today. In the absence of elected committee presidents, the meetings have been chaired by the committee’s senior-most members based on age.