Mahottari women want leaders to come to village during hardships

BY MAHESH KUMAR DAS Jaleshwar, May 3: The upcoming local level election has gripped not only the leaders but also their families, relatives and supporters.

Many people's representatives, including candidates of mayors, deputy mayors, ward chairpersons and ward members are getting elected on May 13 polls.

More than a dozen candidates are vying for a post in all 15 municipalities of Mahottari district.

With the candidates from almost all houses filing their candidacies, the election activity has heated up.

But Usha Devi of Jaleshwor-7 has not felt the election environment yet.

Usha Devi arrives at Mahendra Chowk, at Jaleshwar, before six in the morning to sell buffalo’s milk. Her daily routine is to sell milk till 9 am and then return home to prepare food.

Daily life of many women in the village is similar to Usha Devi’s. Those who have to engage in household chores from dawn to dusk are not affected by the election campaigns which are now at their climax.

The sooner the milk is sold, the sooner she gets to buy food and vegetables with the income earned. 

"What does this election mean to us poor people?" said Usha Devi. She said that the leaders who did not show their face before the election, are now coming to everyone's house clasping their hands and saying that I am the candidate of this party and that party.

The condition of Phulo Devi, who supports her family by raising buffaloes like Usha, is similar.

Phulo has not made up her mind to vote for any leader in the election.

"Would I vote for a leader who would not come back to see me during COVID-19,” she said, emotionally, and added that she had to spend her days and nights with an empty stomach at that time. 

"For two years, when the pandemic upended the lives of general people, no leader came to show their face. Now, I am surprised to see one leader after another coming here asking for votes," she said.

Stating that she has been managing food and clothes for her children by selling milk, she said that she would cast vote if she had time on election's day.

Sabita Devi, a resident of Halkhori in Ekdara Rural Municipality, also said that election would make no difference for poor people like her. 

"Why should we vote for them?” she said, complaining that no one is working for the poor.  "We have to repay the bank's loan to buy buffaloes ourselves. Leaders will not pay our bills,” she said.