Jhapa, June 4

Election campaigns for the second round of civic polls are centred in urban areas rather than  the rural areas of Jhapa.

The elections have not affected people in rural areas, especially the backward, marginalised and disappearing groups among people living in rural areas of the district. They said that they were unaware of local level elections, but had heard election was going to be held.

Election related activities have been zero in the so-called ‘disappearing communities’. A leader from the farmer community, Raj Kumar Kisan, said no candidate had reached the community to ask  for votes. “When election will be held I don’t know,” he said. Kisan said he had taken part in election earlier. “But no one has understood our problems,’ he added. He said that he would cast his vote for the person of his choice rather than a political party.

It is said that the voter education programme has yet to reach the Gangai, Mache, Tharu, Rajbanshi, Muslims and Santhal, among other people in the southern part of Jhapa.

Mangal Tudu, a local, said that villagers were in a dilemma about how to cast votes as no one had launched voter education programme among villagers, yet.