Media Personalities in Politics: Impressive in Dreams, Disappointing in Vote Count

Kathmandu — Popular media figures in Rautahat and Dhanusha, Rishi Dhamala and Diwakar Sah, ventured into the political arena, but the election results have painted a rather disappointing picture.

Rishi Dhamala, contesting from Rautahat Constituency No. 4, has fallen far behind in the vote count. So far, he has received only 56 votes. Ganesh Paudel of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leads with 4,744 votes, followed by Congress candidate Dev Prasad Timalsena with 1,688 votes, and CPN’s Ram Kumar Bhattarai with 1,612 votes. Even reaching a hundred votes seems unlikely for Dhamala.

Similarly, Diwakar Sah, an independent candidate and YouTuber from Dhanusha Constituency No. 3, is facing a discouraging outcome. He accepted defeat even before the counting began and has already started reporting on the results. In his constituency, RSP’s Manish Jha is leading with 23,311 votes.

While media popularity and digital influence may appear to ease entry into politics, the election results reveal a starkly different reality.