LAHAN, Sept 15: Lahan Municipality of Saptari district has many voters who are not affiliated with any political party. Therefore, various political parties have reached the helm of power in this local unit since the 1991 elections instead of just one party being dominant.
In this sense, victory for parties and candidates in elections depends on their ability to woo the swing voters in the last moment. This seems to be true for the third round of local polls slated for September 18 as in their attempts to woo the swing voters, parties and candidates are blatantly violating the silent period.
Due to the high number of swing voters, candidates and parties have no way of predicting who is going to secure victory in Lahan. This has triggered a tough competition due to which candidates are disregarding the silent period in an attempt to win over swing voters and sway the elections in their favor.
Candidates busy making strategies to woo voters
“In Lahan, instead of debating over which political party would win the election, people debate on which candidate would win their hearts,” said Chakrapani Dahal, a school principal in Lahan. “Many voters here are not affiliated with any political party. That's why they do not have a pre-mindset on whom to vote. And they usually vote for those who can win them in the last couple of days before the elections.”
Lately, the voters count in Lahan has reached 47,300. Candidates and political parties are targeting “silent voters” in the silent period, which started from 12 am Friday. Though election campaigns are fully prohibited in the silent period, familiar and unfamiliar faces started appearing in the Musahar settlements of Lahan-23 since the wee hours of Friday morning.
Approaching the potential voters, they promised to help them in their need if they vote for them, according to Ram Dev Mahato, a local. “If we don't agree with their offer, they threaten us before leaving,” he added.
A local politician, on condition of anonymity, said, “Till yesterday, we were busy in electoral campaigns to promote our parties. But today, after the silent period began, we are working on campaigns which would actually win us votes.” The politician stressed that swing voters, who are not affiliated with any political party, play a big role in determining election outcome.
Photo: Mithlesh Yadav / Republica
