Kathmandu . The wait is almost over for Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) supporters. The party is set to announce its candidate today for the Rupandehi-3 by-election scheduled for November 2 (Kartik 17).

Nine aspirants were in the race: Sulav Kharel, Parthibendra Upadhyaya, Dr. Lekh Jung Thapa, Gyanu Poudel, Jeet Bahadur Gupta, Kusum Maharjan, Rachana Chhetri, Poonam Kumari Agrawal, and Madhu Prasad Aryal. Party members of Rupandehi-3, along with local and central committee members, had voted through the party’s mobile app on August 28–29. The name with the highest votes will be made public after a 1:30 PM secretariat meeting.

According to RSP, the process aimed to give members the right to choose their candidate after attempts at consensus failed. The mix of doctors, professors, activists, industrialists, and returning youths among aspirants has added more interest to the contest.

The by-election was announced after the death of RPP’s Deepak Bohara, who had defeated then Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand in 2022. Major parties, including Nepali Congress, UML, RSP, Madhesi Front, Resham Chaudhary’s group, and Balen Shah’s team, are all preparing for the contest.