"Larumba is a very holy place," said Sherma, adding, "Here, we just talk of religion and culture. You are not here for political purpose. Are you?"
"No, no," replied Oli, with a grin on his face. Sherma smiled. So did the Kirant guru. "I am here only to seek the guru´s blessing to maintain peace and write a new constitution." [break]
However, Oli, when asked by Sherma to speak about the purpose of his visit did not just limit himself to seeking the Kirant guru´s blessing but ended up asking for the Kirant guru´s support in winning the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. And Sherma, speaking on behalf of the guru, also sought Oli´s succor in developing Larumba and uplifting Kirant religion and culture.
"He is Nepal´s future Prime Minister," Sherma praised Oli in what looked like an attempt to impress the Kirant guru. "If he wins the polls, he will probably be Nepal´s prime minister. If not, he will at least be CPN-UML chairman. If Gopal Kiranti, his opponent from UCPN (Maoist), wins the polls, he will, at most, be a minister for state. If he loses, he loses everything; he simply disappears from the political spectrum."
The Kirant guru, who has been living in Larumba, a nondescript village in Banjho VDC of Ilam, some 17 kilometers north of Damak municipality of Jhapa for over the last 15 years finally spoke with a very soft voice, "You yourself saw how remote our village is. There is no road to come here. There is no electricity, either."
And Sherma, on behalf of the Kirang guru, read out a list of plans for which they are expecting Oli´s support. He urged Oli to help build Damak-Larumba road, develop a university exclusively for promoting Kirant religion and culture, announce a national holiday on the birth anniversary of Falgunanda, the great guru of Kirant religion, build a ring road close to the Kirant guru´s hermitage, arrange police´s security at the hermitage, among others.
Without bagging an eyelid, Oli promised to fulfill all their demands. "I will do my best to fulfill all these demands," said he.
At the end of their one hour-long conversation, Oli´s wife Radhika Shakya handed over to two separate envelops to the Kirant guru and chairman of Manggena Service Committee, a team that looks after the Kirant guru´s hermitage, Kehar Singh Yonghang.
According to Sherma, the envelops were offerings made by Oli. "No one knew how much money the envelops contained," said he. "Only the giver and the receiver knew it."
Why did Oli, who is contesting the CA polls from constituency-7 of Jhapa, visit Larumba, cancelling a door-to-door campaign in Lakhanpur, a village that lies in his own constituency?
Larumba does not lie in Oli´s constituency. It is, in fact, in constituency-2 of Ilam, where another top CPN-UML leader, Subash Nembang, is contesting the CA polls. Just two days after he filed his candidacy, Nembang had visited Larumba to seek the Kirant guru´s blessings. It is understandable why Nembang visited Larumba. There are around 1,800 voters in Banjho, who will most probably vote for whichever party or leader the Kirant guru looks up to.
The Kirant guru does not instruct any one to vote for a particular party or a candidate. He does not request them to do so, either. However, whichever party or leader gets importance, often indicated by the duration of meeting, from the Kirant guru, his followers support them.
Therefore, UCPN (Maoist)´s Ramesh Lingden, Nepali Congress (NC)´s Bheshraj Acharya and Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN)´s Binod Nembang, who are contesting the polls against CPN-UML´s Nembang in Ilam-2, have already visited the Kirant guru.
However, the Kirant guru´s supporters are not just in Larumba or Ilam. His supporters are across Nepal, particularly in eastern Nepal. Therefore, most of candidates contesting the CA poll from various constituencies of eastern Nepal have either already visited Larumba or preparing to go there.
Gopal Kiranti, who has been pitted by UCPN (Maoist) against Oli in Jhapa-7, too, has already visited the Kirant guru.
Kiranti is the same Maoist leader, who instructed Maoist rebels to attack the Kirant guru´s hermitage during the war time. At that time, the Maoists were furious at Kirant guru´s activities. He was deemed by the Maoists as a remnant of feudalism. The Maoists were particularly intolerant of local villagers worshiping the Kirant guru as an incarnation of the god.
The tussle between the Kirant guru and the Maoists had even taken a violent turn with the latter allegedly killing as many as five followers of Kirant religion. In an attempt to protect the Kirant guru, his supporters had even formed an armed group known as ´Kamrang´, which was dubbed by the Maoists as a group of vigilantes backed by the state forces.
In a desperate bid to defeat Oli, Kiranti reportedly apologized for what he did during the war time. However, according to Sherma, the Kirant guru did not utter a word. "He just kept smiling," said he.
Kiranti´s apology also demonstrates how important it is to get the Kirant guru´s support to win the CA poll particularly in some constituencies of eastern Nepal.
FSPN chairman Ashok Rai, NC´s Bhishmaraj Aangdembe and Rashtriya Prajatantra Party Nepal´s Rajendra Lingden, among others, have already visited the Kirant guru. As the CA poll nears, NC leader Krishna Sitaula and Madheshi People´s Rights Forum (Democrat) leader Bijaya Gachchhadar, too, are reportedly trying to get appointments from the Kirant guru.
Who is this guru whom every candidate wants to see by his side to win the CA poll? He looks like an ordinary person. He wears ordinary clothes. His voice is soft; and keeps smiling. He does not look like a quintessential guru whom the people see preaching about religion on television channels. He does not even mix philosophy in his speech. In short, he looks like a simple school teacher.
However, the Kirant guru has hundreds of thousands of supporters across the country. Followers of Kirant religion consider him as an incarnation of their great guru Falgunanda. The Kirant guru has declared Larumba as a place free of consumption of alcohol, meat and smoking. "It is an effort to reform the society," said Younghang, chairman of Manggena Service Committee. "And, everyone has followed the guru´s appeal."
Before the Kirant guru set up his hermitage in Banjho, not many had heard of this village. About 15 years ago, there was a rumor, like the one about the recent doomsday, about a catastrophe that woul destroy Nepal. Also, there was a rumor that only those who live in Larumba would survive the catastrophe. Some people even shifted to Larumba for good to survive the catastrophe that, in reality, never took place.
This is how Larumba, and thereby Banjho, came to light. But, Larumba still lacks basic amenities. The locals believe that only their guru can help develop their village. So, they fully support the guru. And, on the basis of this very support, the Kirant guru wants to exploit the upcoming CA poll as a chance to make leaders allocate budget for some development projects in Larumba.
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