Dipayal, May 31

Locals of Bogatan Rural Municipality, Doti area have been demanding that their leaders construct the Sahajpur-Bogatan-Dipayal road section ever since democracy was established in the country.

The locals, now, demanded the same of leaders who reached the area to seek votes for the second phase of civic polls.

Locals said that the leaders had not developed the road section till date. Construction of the road section, which started during the Panchyat regime, has yet to be completed even after the republican system was established in the country.

Then Nepali Congress leader Siddha Ojha had promised to construct the road section during the parliamentary election in 1991.

Ojha won the election with a landslide, but he resigned for his parliamentary seat after one year saying the government did not give priority to construction of the Sahajpur-Bogatan-Dipayal road.

Later, the government had given priority to the road and his resignation was withdrawn as construction of the road section began.

Again, Ojha reached out to the locals with the same slogan for votes in 1994. Around 18 kilometres of the road was constructed when Ojha was elected for the third time in 1999.

A local, Keshab Joshi, said that locals have been suffering much due to lack of road in the area. “We will vote in the upcoming civic polls for those who build the road,” he said.

Another local, Dirga Bom, said that locals had voted for the CPN-Maoist Khem Bom thinking he would take the initiative for the road construction. “But the locals did not get anything from Khem Bom,” he added.

Similarly, the locals had elected CPN-UML leader Prem Bahadur Ale Magar hoping for the same, but the achievement was zero.