Gulmi, Jan. 31 -- The contest in Gulmi-1 is shaping up to be a close race in the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, with four major candidates emerging as strong contenders.

Long dominated by CPN-UML's Pradeep Gyawali and Nepali Congress leader Chandra Bhandari, the constituency has this time drawn serious challenges from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate Sagar Dhakal and Nepali Communist Party (NCP) candidate Sudarshan Baral, making the race difficult to predict.

Although candidates from 10 political parties and 11 independents are in the fray, the main competition is widely expected to be among Gyawali, Bhandari, Dhakal and Baral. The entry of Dhakal and Baral has broken the traditional bipolar contest bet...