Poll campaign in full swing in capital valley

Kathmandu, May 7: The local level elections are just a week away and the national political atmosphere has heated up. Candidates, independent and politically-backed alike, have begun campaigning and reaching out to voters.

 Parties have mobilised their cadres to get their members elected. The electoral atmosphere has fully gripped Nepal and as the capital, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is at the centre of it all. Big political names like Keshav Sthapit and Sirjana Singh and independents like Balen shah have announced their candidacy for the mayorship of this city. This seems to have the voters excited.

while youths appear to show their support for Shah on social media, older voters, however, seem to want a more experienced person at the helm. “Youths certainly have the energy but they lack the experience,” said Manoj Prakash Ranjit of Sano Bharyang, Swoyambhu. “It takes a lot running a city and idealistic youngsters may not be able to perform.”

Pramita Dhakal of Teku says, “The mayor may design the best policies but will need to mobilise the staff to implement them.” Nevertheless, she was happy that younger people were taking an interest in politics and hoped that this would create the necessary momentum to drive change, regardless of who becomes the mayor.

In Lalitpur, the second metropolitan city of the Kathmandu Valley, the voters have two key demands from their elected officials – waste management and regular supply of drinking water. Over the past week, The Rising Nepal talked to 20 voters, 10 men and 10 women ranging in age from 32 to 48 from 18 wards of Lalitpur Metropolitan City and they complained that their areas lacked drinking water and waste collection.

“The waste collection vehicle refuses to enter alleys and secondary roads and we have to bribe the driver to throw our waste,” Sushmita Karki of Chyasal said. Similarly, Prakash Shrestha of Kanibahal said, “I tell every person who comes to ask for my vote to ensure a regular supply of clean drinking water so we do not have to call private water tankers every week. They say okay now but let’s see what they do once in office.”

Over in Bhaktapur, people seem to have mixed feelings about the coming polls as a whole. While visiting Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, one of the local levels of Bhaktapur district, people expressed their mixed reactions to the elections. Laxmi Bhakta Shrestha, 73, of Balkumari, Madhyapur Thimi–4 said he was unsure about who to vote for. “Election campaigners from all political parties have visited my home making all sorts of promises but still I am not able to determine who I should give my vote to.” 

“Elections are just for people who are involved in the politics, not for us. We are only voters to the elected politician,” he grumbled.

Sharan Bhakta Kayastha, former principal of Bal Premi Secondary School in Thimi, said that people affiliated to different political parties had been coming to the people with different pledges. The CPN (UML), which is the party of the incumbent Mayor Madan Sundar Shrestha, has said they will complete the remaining work to make Madhyapur Thimi one of the best municipalities of the country. Nepali Congress says they will develop the city as a beautiful and cultural town and make it a tourist destination. 

“The parties promise many things like delivering the social security allowance to the homes of the senior citizens, providing health check-ups and waste management,” Kayastha said.

Similarly, Giridhar Shrestha of Madhyapur Thimi–5 said that he was not interested in parties. “I will vote but I do not support any political party. Voting is my right and I will vote for the person I think is the best for the municipality,” he said.