- शनिबार, ८ वैशाख, २०८१
Bhaktapur, Nov. 5: A majority of the voters in Bhaktapur are this time in no mood to vote candidates in the November 19 constituent assembly election who have the habit of pleading for votes but care less to return to their constituencies.
Rameshwar Pandit of local Nakhel VDC said he was not voting candidates who come begging at his doorsteps for votes only during election time but never show their face after the election.
“Candidates of different parties including independents who come to our village in course of campaigning before the election promise to work for the development of our village whether they lose or win the election; but not to talk of the losers even those winning the election never show up.
Why should we vote such candidates, the whole village has agreed not to vote such candidates,” he said.
Pandit said the people in his village have also agreed not to vote candidates who behave indifferently after being elected and do not help them at times of need.
“I am not in a mood to vote this time because nobody listens to our demands and problems after the election. We were very upbeat in the last CA election in the hope that the country would get a constitution, but that did not happen and I am not sure the new CA will do so,” shared one Maila Tamang of Ashapuri, Sipadol VDC, one of the most remote VDCs in the district.
Voters in almost every other VDC in the district have the same voice – that they are going to vote only the party and the candidates that is really committed to development of their constituency and writing constitution.
Sanukaji Basukala, an inhabitant of Bhaktapur Municipality Ward No. 15, said that the leaders fooled the people in the past because they were smart, but not any more. The people have outsmarted the leaders these days and they will not be misled by their false promises and allurements anymore.
“People have already evaluated the parties and their leaders. So, they will vote the party which they believe is true to the people and protecting the national interests,” he added.
Anita Karki of Sudal Pipalbot says that those who came begging for votes in the last election but never showed up after the election have once again come for the same purpose, but she was not voting such candidates. “They come pleading for votes every election and promise that they will do this and that for the voters but vanish after the election; we are not going to vote such candidates this election,” she said.
Suntali Basnet of Tathali VDC shares Karki’s views. She said that this time also candidates have promised to visit their constituencies after the election but expressed her doubts that they would. She said they would vote the party and the candidates who can write constitution.
Chairman of Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) Narayan Man Bijukchhe has been elected from Bhaktapur Constituency No. 1 in every general election since 1991 while NWPP general secretary Sunil Prajapati has been elected twice and Nepali Congress’ candidates Jagannath Acharya and Lekhnath Neupane for one term each from Constituency No. 2.
Many voters also complained that the candidates who won the elections so far have done precious little for the overall development of the district and they have remained aloof from their constituencies too.
NWPP chairman Bijukchhe, who is running in the election from Constituency No. 1 this time also, said that he is always for the wellbeing of the peasants and workers and has done everything in his capacity for the development of the district. Prajapati who is also a candidate in this election claimed that he has returned to his constituency and met voters and asked them about their problems and ways to address them.
Mahesh Basnet, who is contesting the election for the first time from Bhaktapur on UML ticket, said that he was committed to the local development and working for the people and the youths. He said he would keep on visiting his constituency even after the election no matter whether he wins or loses it as he is a local inhabitant. Similarly, Ranju Napit, another UML candidate said that she would work for protecting the rights and interests of women and children.
DP Dhakal, who is a candidate from the Unified CPN (Maoist), said that he would be with the people whether he wins or loses in the election. Another UCPN (Maoist) candidate Sanu Suwal said that he has been struggling for the people’s rights in the past and do so in future also.
Nepali Congress candidate Rameshwar Dhungel said that he has been working for the people and the development of the village since the last 28 years. He said he would work for the people in the days to come. Likewise, another Nepali Congress candidate Krishna Lal Bhandel said he would continuously keep on working for developing the villages and addressing the problems of the people. RSS
