November 12: Almost all the political parties are scrambling to woo the voters ahead of the November 20 election to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly.    
They are primarily raising issues related to political stability, good governance, prosperity and law and order in course of their election campaigns. However, these issues figured in the election agenda of the parties in the last elections as well.    
The political parties have also included in their election manifestos topics like protection of nationalism, national sovereignty, building a self-reliant economy, increasing employment, infrastructure development, citizenship and issues related to religion and culture.    
In this connection, the Nepalka Lagi Nepali (Nepalis for Nepal) Party has vociferously raised the issues of curbing corruption and promotion of the 'Prithvipath' and 'Nepalwad'. According to this party, Prithvipath is the principles propounded by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal, and Nepalwad is the policy of Nepal first, said the party president Bal Krishna Neupane.    
Nepalka Lagi Nepali Party's election symbol is the 'conch'. The party has fielded 110 candidates under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) and the proportional electoral system. Moreover, the party has prioritized issues like investigating the assets of persons holding high public posts from the time of Panchayat system till present, adoption of a directly-elected prime minister, restoration of monarchical system and barring the legislators from becoming ministers.    
Some of the political parties have highlighted issues such as deteriorating economy, external interference in national affairs, establishing social justice and self-reliance, addressing the problems of women, children and senior citizens, and that of education, health and social security, in their election manifestos.    
The Nagarik Unmukti Party (Citizen Liberation Party) led by Ranjita Shrestha has primarily highlighted topics like the nation's development, identity, good governance, prosperity and inclusive identity in its manifesto. This party has fielded 85 candidacies for the House of Representatives and 137 candidacies for the Provincial Assembly member election. It has been advocating for a directly-elected president or prime minister.    
The Kirant Khumbuwan Sajha Party has fielded only one candidate for the House of Representatives and 15 candidates for Provincial Assembly in the FPTP system and 15 for the proportional representation seats. The party with the election symbol of 'Dhaka cap’ has voiced for naming Province 1 as the Kirant Province, smooth supply of drinking water in Dharan, corruption control and addressing the burning problems in the education and health sectors.    
The party has also advocated for adopting a directly-elected prime minister and fully-proportional election system for institutionalizing political stability in the country.    
The Tamang Shaling Loktantrik Party with the 'Vajra' as its election symbol has fielded one candidate for the House of Representatives election and 20 candidates for the Provincial Assembly, said party chairperson Simang Tamang. The party has been demanding reforms in the election system to make it less costly and adoption of a fully-proportional election system where the candidates are selected based on the population of the ethnic groups.    
The Miteri Party Nepal with election symbol ‘Horse' has called for redrawing the new administrative map of the country into five development regions and restoration of constitutional monarchy, said the party president Ghanendra Basnet.    
Nepal Bibeksheel Party has fielded only two candidacies for House of Representatives. The party with election symbol the 'Dog Face' has advocated for extensive reforms in the present form of governance and election system, according to party president Karma Lama.    
The Mangol National Organisation with its election symbol ‘rooster' is contesting the election to 238 seats for House of Representatives and Province Assembly from 50 districts, shared the party president Buddha Lal Meche. This party's main election agenda are democracy, secularism, federalism and the protection of rights and existence of the indigenous people.    
The Sanghiya Lokatantrik Rastriya Manch (Federal Democratic National Forum)'s chairperson Kumar Lingden said his party has fielded candidacies in 86 electoral constituencies in six provinces in this election. Federalism with identity, removal of the present minimum vote threshold for parties and empowerment of the provinces are the key issues the party has been advocating for. Its election symbol is 'Khukuri with the Sheath'.    
The Bahujan Ekata Party Nepal has kept equality, independence, self-respect and prosperity as its top priorities. The party's election symbol is the 'Seven-step Stairs'. It has fielded 34 candidates towards the FPTP and 49 candidates towards the proportional representation system of election. The party is for adopting a governance system where either the president or the prime minister is directly elected by the people. It has also been advocating for adopting a fully proportional election system along with reservation quotas for the ethnic groups.    
It is found that the election candidates are also putting forth the same old ideas like maintaining law and order, good governance, easing the supply of fertiliser, providing irrigation and expanding road networks, among other promises. -- RSS