‘Deuba not giving time to his constituency’
Amargadi, November 30
Local residents and Nepali Congress cadres have complained that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is contesting parliamentary election from Dadeldhura’s lone constituency, has not been able to give enough time to his constituency.
They said PM Deuba had yet to reach villages such as Rupal, Bhageshwor, Bakarakot, Dewal-Divyapur and Alital. “Even if he comes here, he just delivers a five-minute speech and leaves,” said Kehsav Singh, former central president of Nepal Students’ Union.
Although local voters are positive about electing Deuba from the constituency, he has not been able to engage in door-to-door campaigns like his rivals, said Singh. “Even then, PM Deuba does not face any difficulty.”
Singh, however, conceded that although Deuba was safe, victory of provincial candidates would depend upon how the party addressed grievance. “Winning provincial seats is more challenging,” he said. Deuba is contesting against the left alliance’s candidate and CPN-Maoist Centre leader Khaga Raj Bhatta. In the provincial assembly Constituency (Ka), NC’s Raghubir Bhatta faces ,CPN-UML’s Tara Prasad Joshi; while in constituency (Ka) the contest is between the NC’s Karna Bahadur Malla and the left alliance’s Pathan Singh Bohora.
Local Advocate Pushpa Raj Joshi said although Deuba was pretty comfortable, victory of provincial candidates was still unsure. “NC might suffer due to internal feuds,” he said.
As the PM is busy campaigning nationwide he has not been able to give time to his own constituency, but he has been dispatching letters to voters, stating that whatever he has achieved so far was due to their favour and that he would able to give leadership to the country if he was elected again. Deuba has also pledged to expedite projects such as West Seti Hydropower and Pancheshwor Multipurpose, according to Singh.
On the other hand, the left alliance has said Deuba became the PM four times, but he could not address the people’s aspirations. The left leaders claimed they would defeat Deuba if they could garner enough votes from the southern parts of the district.