KOHALPUR, Dec 4: Door-to-door canvassing is widely popular among various political party candidates contesting assembly and parliamentary elections in the district. Despite the popularity of the method, political parties are facing a new problem. They hardly meet voters in their homes. Most of the time when they reach a voter’s house, either the house is padlocked or only children are available. In such situation, they go to another house leaving behind their manifesto, flag and pamphlets. 

According to a voter, Ram Jaya Tharu, she started padlocking her house during the day and in the evening, as she got irritated with the frequent visits of the political party cadres canvassing for votes. “They come and we have to listen to them. Every day, one or the other party members come. It’s irritating. Therefore, I just padlock the door and stay in neighbor’s house during the daytime till late. Or I busy myself with work on the farm,” said the local of Gaurinagr, Kohalpur Municipality- 3. 

When Nagarik team visited the villages of Kohalpur, Janaki and Nepalgunj along with election candidates on Sunday, most of the houses were found padlocked. This had discouraged the candidates. In some houses, children were there and they reported that their parents are at work.

Tharu stated that most of the locals do like she does. They go to fields or somewhere else rather than attending the election candidates. True to her saying, the excitement of election was not evident in the locality. 

Govinda Paswan, a voter from Ganapur of Janaki Rural Municipality stated that he feels nothing exciting about the election. He said that his work keeps him so much busy that he has no time for the election-related activities. “I busy in my work and children go to school. So we padlock the house,” he said. “Moreover, we feel that the election is more for the politicians than for us. We had given them votes even in the past, but after elections are over, they never come back to the village,” he added.  

The second and final phase of the provincial and parliamentary election is on Thursday. Parties do not have much time left to carry out their campaigns. That is why they are in hurry to reach out to the maximum voters. However, in this part of the district, voters do not seem to welcome them. 

“We do not trust them no matter what they say. We all know by now that the leaders say one thing and do something else. In earlier elections, they made us fool on several issues,” fumed Paswan. “When you are poor and have no relations with high-level people, you are the most neglected,” he added. 

Paswan reported the feeling of disinterestedness is common among people. Without working very hard, there is no way of surviving and feeding kids, he said. “No matter who comes to power, our miseries will remain with us. So, people have not taken interest in meeting the candidates,” he elaborated. 

Tharu meanwhile added that the politicians have lost credibility and therefore nobody wants to listen to their agenda, she said. “So far none of them have fulfilled their promises. They are not trustworthy and it is irritating to listen to their promises when you already know that they will let you down,” she stated. 

According to Paswan and Tharu, the candidates must stop making tall promises. Only then, they will sound realistic. “When they give too many assurances, we don’t feel good. We may or may not vote for them, but there is no charm in their speeches,” Paswan noted. “Once the election is over, everything remains the same. We won’t get better facilities, roads, clean water, or irrigation canals by talking with them,” he added. 

Most of the voters echoed this voice. They said that they feel that the election is only for the politicians. Locals at Nepalgunj and Kohalpur, among other areas, said that they are not sure whether they will cast vote on Thursday. “When you feel that it is not for you, but for the leaders, you don’t have the spirit to spare time for the election. There is certainly no excitement among us,” Paswan said. “But they keep coming to our house during the election time and do lots of drama,” he added. 

 
• tired
 
• tall
 
• promises
 
• voters
 
• avoid
 
• campaigners