BAJURA, APRIL 29
The bifurcation in CPN-UML has created factions in a Dalit settlement in Bajura's Swamikartikkhapar Rural Municipality-3, Jukot.
Prior to the split of the party, a majority of voters of the Dalit settlement voted for CPN-UML in the last election, following the instruction of the so-called upper-caste people, most of whom wereUML supporters.
Following the split of UML party, the entire Jukot village is now divided between UML and the breakaway party CPN (Unified Socialist) under Madhav Kumar Nepal. Both the parties have fielded their own candidates for the upcoming local elections. While UML has fielded Chaturbhuj Shahi as its candidate for the post of chairperson for Swamikartikkhapar Rural Municipality, Chiranjivi Shahi is running from CPN-US.
Chiranjivi Shahi had won the previous local election from here five years ago, and this time he also has the support of CPN-Maoist Centre.
Though Jukot also has Nepali Congress and CPN-MC supporters, they are said to be in minority.
Then Jukot is a single ward under the present local level - Swamikartikkhapar Rural Municipality. There are now 2,096 voters in the ward and 218 Dalit families.
"We used to vote for some candidates under the instruction of the upper caste people earlier; now that there are rural municipality chairman's candidates from our village itself, we are in confusion," said local Man Kami.
Another Dalit member, in condition of anonymity, said the present election has put them in a fix. "Both the candidates are our money lenders from high caste, so we don't know whom to vote. We fear we will be offending one of the two men anyway when we vote," he said.
Seventy-four-year-old Nande Luwar is also worried as to whom to vote this time.
"We've never voted by using our own discretion thus far, and this time too we're preparing to vote for a candidate the high caste people will ask us to, but this time as there are two candidates from our own village representing two different parties, we don't know whom we have to listen to and vote for," he said.
It is important to note that most of the Dalit families in Jukot are working as haliyas for Thakuri families. While they apparently vote by listening to their masters, other Dalit voters, who are not working as haliyas, either don't vote on their own discretion but vote for whomever the so-called higher caste people tell them to vote for.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 30, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
