Kathmandu, 12 January (H.S.): Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, is set to resign from his position to contest the upcoming general elections against former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in the Jhapa-5 constituency.

According to his secretariat, Balen is actively engaged in the necessary preparations for this high-stakes challenge. Jhapa-5 serves as the home turf of Oli, chairman of the CPN-UML, where he has secured repeated victories over multiple terms.

The secretariat revealed that Balen has been holding continuous discussions with local leaders and activists in Jhapa as part of his strategy to mount a strong contest in the constituency.

On Sunday, he met with key figures, including Prakash Pathak, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) in Jhapa, along with other prominent leaders.Balen's personal secretary, Bhupdev Shah, confirmed: “The mayor is preparing to fight the election against KP Oli from Jhapa-5. Our team is also conducting voter surveys there. In line with this, he met with local leaders today to assess the ground situation.”

According to Shah, Balen plans to submit his resignation by January 19 and head to Jhapa on the 20th to file his nomination papers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar