Rautahat, June 12

Lack of seriousness on the part of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and the government to forge consensus for the agitating RJPN-to participate in the second phase of June 28 civic polls has left Rautahat people in confusion.

The agitating RJP-N’s announcement of fresh protest programmes at a time when elections are fast-approaching has befuddled people. They do not know whether they will be able to cast their votes.

Major political parties — the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and the CPN-Maoist Centre have yet to finalise their candidates in the district causing the election fever to subside. Only party leaders who have received oral assurances about getting ticket for mayor, deputy mayor and ward chair are into election campaigning.

CPN-UML’s mayoral candidate Shambhu Sah Kanu, Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal’s Gauri Shankar Yadav and independent mayoral candidate at Gaur Municipality are engaged indoor-to-door campaigning. This has unleashed some flavour of election in Rautahat.

The truth, however, is that election campaigning has not picked up pace in Garuda and Chandrapur municipalities as parties are yet to nominate their candidates for mayor, deputy mayor and other posts.

Rautahat has three municipalities and 13 rural municipalities.

People in the district are divided over the June 28 civic polls. Some are very excited to cast their ballot, while others want to ensure the participation of RJP-N in the civic polls.

Civil Society Rautahat Chair Jagannath Prasad Keshari said people were divided over the June 28 polls with and without the agitating RJP-N.

Keshari blamed the government for the misunderstanding and lack of conducive poll environment. “The local bodies have been without elected representatives for the past 20 years. The government made a mistake by not addressing the Rastriya Janata Party’s demands,” Keshari said.

The Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre have yet to finalise the name list of their candidates due to a large number of aspirants to contest the local level elections.