Four ministers in Karki govt resign to contest upcoming election in Nepal

Kathmandu (PTI): Four ministers, part of the Cabinet led by caretaker Prime Minister Sushila Karki, have filed their nominations to contest the March 5 general elections in Nepal after resigning from their posts.

Science and Education Minister Mahabir Pun has filed his nomination from Myagdi district, after he quit on Tuesday to contest the parliamentary election as an independent candidate.

On Monday, Communication Minister Jagadish Kharel and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta had quit the ministerial posts to contest the House of Representatives (HoR) election.

Kharel has filed nomination from Lalitpur-2 constituency on behalf of the Rastriya Swatantra Party while Gupta filed nomination from Siraha-1 constituency.

A couple of weeks ago, Minister for Energy and Water Resources Kulman Ghising resigned from the post and joined as chairman of Ujyaalo Nepal Party to contest the election. Ghising on Tuesday filed nomination from Kathmandu constituency No. 3.

In the upcoming general election, a total of 189,03,689 voters, including 92,40,131 women, are eligible to cast their votes.

The general elections were necessitated after K P Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister on September 9 last year, following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.

Karki, 73, became the interim prime minister on September 12 and on her recommendation, the president dissolved the HoR and announced the election date.