BARA, September 10: With the third phase of local elections just around the corner, election fever is gripping the districts and local units of Province-2. The situation is no different in Jitpur Simara Sub-metropolitan City of Bara district.
As the local election is being held after a hiatus of two decades, locals are very excited to have a chance to choose their own representatives in the polls scheduled for September 18. The recently concluded candidate registration has also contributed to the increase in election fever among the locals.
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Candidates are wholeheartedly campaigning for the election knowing that their election ticket is secured. They are organizing various programs to attract voters and strengthen their campaigns. The ruling Nepali Congress (NC), coalition partner CPN (Maoist Center), the main opposition CPN-UML and Madhes-based parties have intensified their election campaigns of late.
“The whole sub-metropolis is waiting for the elections. Election fever has gripped the place. We are leaving no stone unturned in the election campaign,” said Shaybabu Gupta, a local leader of NC.
Winning the elections in this sub-metropolis has become a matter of prestige for all the political parties. Many of the biggest industries of the country are in this local unit, hence making the seat of local representatives very lucrative for them.
Majority of the northern parts of the sub-metropolis is inhabited by people of the hill origin while the southern parts have people of Madhesi community as majority. The sub-metropolis, which is divided into 24 wards, has about 56,600 voters, according to the District Election Office. Due to the mixture of two communities, most of the parties have selected candidates for mayoral and deputy mayoral posts from two different communities to attract votes from both.
Tackling pollution, solving drinking water crisis, road development and addressing problems of squatters are the agendas of most of the candidates.
