October 19: Five finance ministers who steered the country's economy are vying for direct election on November 20. Voters have shown special interest to the election contested by the incumbent and former finance ministers.

Former finance ministers Surendra Pandey, Bishnu Paudel, Barshaman Pun and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma are competing in the upcoming election to the House of Representatives in first past the post (FPTP) category. 

Finance Minister Sharma, former Finance Minister Pun and Karki are general candidates of the ruling coalition. UML's Nandram Devkota is competing against Finance Minister Sharma. Since Sharma is a candidate from the CPN (Maoist Center)’s stronghold of Rukum West, he is expected to win again.

After the rebel candidates of Nepali Congress withdrew their candidacy in Rukum West, Finance Minister Sharma seems to have an easier path in the election. NC candidate Man Bahadur Nepali and Lal Bahadur Mahat of the same party, running as an independent candidate, have withdrawn their candidacy. Only Tarak KC and UML candidate Devkota are pose some challenge to Finance Minister Sharma.

Similarly, former finance ministers Pandey and Paudel competing in the election from UML. They are supported by Janata Samajwadi Party and RPP. 

Pandey, an influential leader of the UML, will most likely face a stiff competition in Chitwan-1 against NC candidate Bishwanath Paudel, who has resigned as the vice president of the National Planning Commission to contest the election. Both candidates are considered to be experts in the field of economy.

Pandey is also the incumbent Member of Parliament from the same constituency. Dr Paudel is the vice president of the National Planning Commission and is a young economist. UML leader Pandey was a member of the National Assembly from 2054 to 60. 

In 2066, he was the finance minister during the government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal. Pandey was a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2070 and won the parliamentary elections in 2074 from Chitwan-1.

There were speculations that Dr Swarnim Wagle would contest the election from the same constituency. However, the NC did not give him a ticket after Paudel expressed his desire to contest in the election. Paudel has worked as an economic advisor to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Paudel is an Associate Professor at Kathmandu University School of Management. When Wagle was the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, Paudel worked there as an economic advisor.

Deputy General Secretary of the Maoist Center and former Finance Minister Barshaman Pun is competing in the election from Rolpa. The common candidate of the ruling coalition will face competition from Purna Budhamgar of CPN-UML. Pun had earlier won the 2074 election from Rolpa.

Similarly, former finance minister and incumbent Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki is one of the candidates for the election. He has registered his candidacy representing the ruling coalition in Constituency 4 of Sunsari. His main competitor will be Jagdish Prasad Kusiait of UML. Karki had won the previous election from the same constituency.

UML vice-president and former finance minister Bishnu Paudel and Raju Gurung of CPN Unified Socialist are competing against each other for seat in the House of Representatives. Even though the Election Commission had rejected Gurung's candidacy, the court issued a short-term order directing the EC not to reject Gurung's candidacy. Since this region is a stronghold of UML, Paudel is unlikely to face stiff opposition.

Former Finance Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani is in the proportional representation quota of Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Former Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada have not registered their candidacy for the election. Former PM Bhattarai is supporting Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the former Prime Minister and Chairman of the CPN-Maoist Center from his constituency and has announced that he will not contest the federal elections.