DHARAN, May 25: A swanky four-wheeler with registration number Ko 1 Ja 640 arranged by the Sunsari district's Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City was readied for the newly elected mayor Harkaraj Rai (Sampang) to ride while he spartanly assumed office on Tuesday.  

But in what came as a shockingly surprising twist was that the newly elected mayor announced to renounce the vehicular services provided by his office to the executive head of the sub-metropolis.

Harkaraj instead pledged to serve the Sub-metropolis with a population of over 1,17000 people riding his two-wheeler (motorcycle). He would rather walk around observing the situation in his Sub-metropolis first-hand and interacting with locals than whizzing around in a luxurious office car.

The independent candidate who won in the recently held local election with 20,821 votes took to his social networking sites to make announcements and commitments as such.

He argued, "If I go around in an expensive car, I will not be able to see the potholes and battered roads on the way. Nor will I be able to feel the difficulties, inconvenience and issues facing the Dharan folks while being in a four-wheeler. I, thus, will ride my own motorcycle and repair the potholes and fix the cracked as well as damaged roads."

The social campaigner, who now loves to name himself as 'servant', had been raising his voices for public concerns in Dharan. He made public his phone numbers (9819012371 and 9746965198) through his page in social networking sites and urged the Dharan folks to call him directly if they were facing any issues such as drinking water, electricity or irregularities.

Rai has not visited his office after taking the oath of office. He also had announced that he will be working in the field most of his time to observe and address the real issues plaguing Dharan and its people. 

Furthermore, after being elected the mayor, various social organizations have begun inviting him to felicitate and honor him. The new mayor, through his social networking sites, earnestly appealed to the people not to invite him to such events and let him be at the disposal of the public and ensure smooth delivery of public services. 

"My first priority will be to increase the productivity of the drinking water project and adding more resources," he admitted.  

One of his maiden tasks in the new role was forming a task force which will study the scientific tax system and offer recommendations besides identifying sources of revenues, Rai said matter-of-factly.

The 39-year-old executive chief of Dharan Sub-metropolis reaffirmed to move ahead for the greater good of Dharan Sub-Metropolis, bringing on board all sides and political parties. 

 
• Dharan
 
• Harkaraj_Rai_(Sampang)