Lekhi, the general secretary of Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha (TKS), beat his opponent Raj Bahadur Rai, the president of Kirat Rai Yayokkha, by a slim margin of five votes. While Lekhi secured 31 votes to win the election held late Monday night, Rai managed to gain just 26 votes. [break]
The sixth elected head of Nefin, an umbrella organization of all indigenous organizations that has been advocating for the rights of ethnic groups since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990, Lekhi has vowed to press the government for ensuring rights of all indigenous nationalities in the new constitution in tune with the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention-169.
“I see scores of challenges ahead,” Lekhi told myrepublica.com. “But I will focus on securing rights of indigenous nationalities through the new constitution.” He said that he would deal with other challenges only after ensuring rights of one of the most oppressed communities. “The government has struck a number of deals with us in the past,” Lekhi added. “I will not let the government to forget any past agreements.”
The election of Lekhi as the new leader of Nefin may have its implication on ethnic-based politics in Madhes. A vociferous opponent of ´One Madhes, One Pradesh´ propelled by Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF), Lekhi will be obstructing any possible patch-ups between MPRF boss Upendra Yadav and Laxman Tharu, leader of Tharuhat Struggle Committee (TSC).
Tharu had signed a deal with Yadav two months ago, which he annulled subsequently giving in to Tharu people´s protests, in tune with MPRF´s slogans. However, as Lekhi opines, Tharu may patch up with some other political forces in future. “I stand by the idea of several provinces in the Tarai,” Lekhi said.
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