General elections were held in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

in 1971 to elect members of the

Rastriya Panchayat Rastriya Panchayat was the official legislature (parliament) during the Panchayat regime of Nepal that effectively functioned from 1960 to 1990. Its head office was at the ''"Gallery Baithak"'' in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu. In the 1980s, it co ...

. At the time, the Rastriya Panchayat had 125 members; out of them 16 were appointed by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, 90 were elected by Zonal Assemblies, 15 were elected by class organizations and 4 were elected by the graduates constituency.Bajracharya, Bhadra Ratha/Sharma, Sita Ram/Bakshi S.R..
Political development in Nepal
'. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1993. p. 2

District representatives

The district representatives were elected by the ''Anchal Sabhas'' (Zonal Assemblies) of the 14

Zones of Nepal Until the establishment of seven new provinces in 2015, Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones ( Nepali: अञ्चल; ''anchal'') and 77 districts ( Nepali: जिल्ला; ''jillā''). The 14 administrative zones were grouped ...

, one representative for each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. The 15 districts with a population of more than 100 000 were able to elect an additional Rastriya Panchayat member. The ''Anchal Sabhas'' consisted of all the members of the ''Zilla Panchayats'' (District Councils). Each Zilla Panchayat had 11 members, who were elected from the town or village panchayats in the district. The town and village panchayats were elected from local assemblies in which all adult residents could vote. A potential candidate had to be a Zilla Panchayat member of the concerned district to be an eligible to contest a district seat. Moreover, the potential candidate had to be proposed and seconded by two other members of the same Zilla Panchayat. To be elected the candidate would need a simple majority of the votes in the Anchal Sabha. The system favoured the less populates areas in the hills, whose districts had a much lower population than the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...

districts in the south.Bajracharya, Bhadra Ratha/Sharma, Sita Ram/Bakshi S.R..
Political development in Nepal
'. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1993. p. 3

Class organisation representatives

The following official class organisations were able to select their representatives in the Rastriya Panchayat. The representatives were elected by the central committees of the respective organisation, through a preferential

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

vote: *Peasants Organisation; 4 seats *Youth Organisation; 4 seats *Women's Organisation; 3 seats *Labour Organisation; 2 seats *Ex-Servicemens' Organisation; 2 seatsBajracharya, Bhadra Ratha/Sharma, Sita Ram/Bakshi S.R..
Political development in Nepal
'. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1993. p. 2, 4

Graduates constituency

The college graduates of the country, numbering about 13000 at the time, were able to elect four members of the Rastriya Panchayat. The representatives were elected with Preferential Proportional Representation vote. The candidates had to be college graduates themselves. In total 22 candidates were in the fray. Seventeen of them contested on a joint reformist agenda. One candidate, the young advocate

Ram Raja Prasad Singh Ram Raja Prasad Singh ( ne, राम राजा प्रसाद सिंह) (1936 – 12 September 2012) was a Nepalese politician. In July 2008, Singh was proposed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), a Nepalese political party which ...

, demanded direct transition to

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

.Bajracharya, Bhadra Ratha/Sharma, Sita Ram/Bakshi S.R..
Political development in Nepal
'. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1993. p. 4-5 The

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Kirti Nidhi Bista Kirti Nidhi Bista ( ne, कीर्तिनिधि विष्ट; 15 January 1927 – 11 November 2017) was a Nepali politician and 25th Prime Minister of Nepal. Biography Bista was born in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal in 1927. He served as p ...

campaigned against the reformist candidates as opponents of the Panchayat system. However, the regime was embarrassed as the reformist candidates were elected, including Ram Raja Prasad Singh.

References

{{Nepalese elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

General elections in Nepal 1971 elections in Nepal