Kathmandu, Jan. 22 -- and-wife pairs and two sets of close relatives have entered the race for the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5, underscoring the prominence of family-linked candidacies across political parties.

The CPN-UML has fielded two married couples, while one couple each is contesting from the Nepali Communist Party and the Aam Janata Party.

Among the UML candidates, Raghubir Mahaseth and his wife Julie Kumari Mahato filed nominations for first-past-the-post seats in Dhanusha. Mahato is contesting from Dhanusha-3, while Mahaseth is running from Dhanusha-4. Mahaseth is a three-time federal lawmaker and former minister. Mahato was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 2008, lost in 2013, and won parliam...