Udaya Shumsher Rana, finance state minister of Nepal, does not really have time for an interview. He often picks up his phone to coordinate his electoral campaign in Lalitpur district, for which, at the time of writing, he is member of parliament.
Parliamentary and provincial elections, the country's first ever, start on November 26, and see Mr Rana’s party, the Nepali Congress, struggling after the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-Maoist Centre and the CPN-Unified Marxist-Leninist party formed an electoral alliance with the promise of merging after the end of elections on December 7. Several Nepali Congress MPs risk losing their seats.
