In the grip of flood, drought, voters in Madhes want candidates who can deliver

From Ishwar Chandra Jha 

Gaur, Nov. 10: Birendra Singh is a local resident of Rajdevi Municipality-9, in Rautahat district. For the past 30 years, the 59-year-old has been commuting to and from Shree Secondary School, in Sedhawa. Two villages – Bramhapuri and Sedhawa – are separated by the Bagmati River. There is no bridge over the river. Singh is a teacher by profession. As he crosses the river to get across by boat, he keeps his bike beside him.    

Not only Singh, some 5,000 people living east of the river have been cut off from Rautahat. Every day more than 1000 people cross the river keeping their motorbikes on boats. 

Dhiraj Kumar Patel, another local there, said that the candidates fear to traveling on boat when the water rises. “Most of candidates for the November 20 elections, once elected, have pledged to construct a bridge over the river,” he said.  

Patel also said that Ajay Kumar Gupta, a candidate of CPN (UML) for the House of Representatives from Constituency No. who returned to his home in Sedhawa on Sunday, has promised to build a bridge if he wins the election.

Another local Jyoti Sah of Pathra said that candidates have been promising them they would build a bridge there for over two decades now, but none of them has been able to complete the construction. Badhadwa bridge is still under construction. “Studies were carried out several times, but the construction is yet to complete,” he said. 

According to him, the under-construction bridge is about five kilometers from Bramhapuri Ghat. Those with the means of transportation travel about 25 kilometers through Barginian to reach Sedhwa. 

In Rautahat Constituency No. 1, there are 41 wards, including the said ward across Bagmati, nine each from Rajdevi, Gaur and Madhav Narayan municipalities, five each from Yamunamai and Durga Bhagwati rural municipalities, three from Gadhimai Municipality and one from Garuda Municipality.

The roads from all the five municipalities to Gaur, the headquarters, are in good condition. The separation of the fertile fields on both sides by the black road gives an impression of infrastructural development. But things are not what they seem. Between Lal Bakiya in the west and Bagmati in the east, the locals have been suffering from floods and inundation. 

The water flowing in the Bagmati does not reach the fields.

Nandalal Baitha said that locals in the grip of both drought and flood. He pointed out that a representative who is capable of bringing irrigation to the fields through canals, reliable health services in hospitals and ensuring regular teaching in public schools should be elected. Baitha added that flood, inundation and lack of irrigation have kept the arable land from producing plenty of crops.  There are six teachers working in Shri Narayan Kamakshya Primary School, located in Durga Bhagwati Rural Municipality. 

But only three people were found during school hours. Shanti Devi, a local, said, “Teachers use Wi-Fi in the office and students roam the village in their school uniforms." She said that even the lunch provided by the school was not hygienic. 

Similarly, Lalan Kumar Das complained that he was given worm-infested rice cakes, semolina pudding and beaten rice coupled with sugar for lunch. The condition of other municipalities and wards of the district is also dire.

Another local resident Samsad Alam of Yamunamai Rural Municipality-5, Jhunkhunwa said that the culture of cheating through mobile phones in entrance and plus two exams is becoming a norm. Alam said that he was looking for a candidate who would emphasise quality education for social reform and create jobs in the country.

CPN (Unified Socialist) President Madhav Kumar Nepal has returned to the district for the election after nine years, heating up the election atmosphere there.  

When he was elected from Rautahat-1 in 2013, his election symbol was the sun. But it has changed now. 

Ajay Kumar Gupta, his closest rival at that time, has taken that symbol. Nine years ago, Gupta was a candidate from Madheshi Janadhikhar Forum (Democratic).

In the 1999 general election, Madhav Kumar Nepal was elected from two regions – Region No. 1 and 4 of Rautahat –  and contested from Kathmandu in 2007, but was defeated. After the Madhesh movement, Baban Singh, who ran as an independent candidate, was elected. 

Anil Kumar Jha, the leader of the Democratic Samajwadi Party, Nepal, who came third in the 2013 election, was elected from Rautahat-1 in 2017. Gupta was elected as the head of Gaur Municipality in the local elections. But five years later, Gupta was defeated with a huge margin. 

However, according to Professor Binda Sahni, the main competition in Rautahat-1 is between Nepal and Gupta. He argued that when the major parties are divided, the main competition will be between the candidates of the alliance on both sides. Nepal is an alliance leader who has the support of ruling parties. There are 12436 voters in Rautahat-1 where 17 candidates from eight political parties and nine independents are in race.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Nepal met voters in Pipra Bazaar at their doorsteps during the campaign today. He claimed that the people of Rautahat were excited by his arrival. 

He said that because of the love, demand and pressure of the local people, he is contesting election from Rautahat. Nepal, who grew up in Rautahat and became involved in politics while working as a teacher, said that he would give momentum to the stalled plans, strengthen the monitoring mechanism and strive to create employment opportunities for the youth.

UML candidate Gupta, however, claimed that twice-elected Nepal hadn’t addressed the issues of the people. He said that the people were excited by his candidacy but not Nepal. “I will speed up the works like education, health and infrastructure development, which are in a deplorable condition,” he added.

Tripartite competition 

Nagendra Shah from Left Democratic Alliance and Rajkishore Yadav from CPN (UML) are candidates in Rautahat Region No. 1(A). Previously, Babulal Shah, who was elected from Rashtriya Janata Party Nepal in the 2017 election, is running as an independent candidate. Nagendra Sah of Nepali Congress (NC) runs a construction company. While Yadav is active in politics, Babulal Sah has become famous for raising local issues with priority in the provincial assembly.

Krishna Yadav, who is also the state president of the NC in Rautahat 1(B), is a candidate from the alliance. NC candidate Rajesh Chaudhary, who was defeated by a narrow margin in the 2017 provincial elections, is contesting the elections as an independent after he was excluded from alliance. Shrimannarayan Mishra, who has been in politics for the past two decades with a Madhesh-centric party, is an independent candidate.