“This is the way of this place. Now, everyone here is talking about zero vote. We can not say what will happen until the poll date arrives,” said the former lawmaker Budha, who had won the parliamentary election as the United People´s Front of Nepal (Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal) candidate in 1994. [break]
Budha believes that the place might repeat the history of ´no vote´, which was witnessed during the parliamentary election in 1979 during the Panchayat era and during the local election in 1997.
Budha, who served as an advisor to the Maoists during the insurgency, but now no more active in politics due to his health condition, is not happy the way local people are talking about boycotting the election.
“One should cast the vote at least for the sake of Constitution Assembly (CA). This is not like any other parliamentary election. This election is for drafting a constitution for the country,” he added.
However, the supporters of the CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidhya are not willing to listen to Budha´s word.
In the last CA election held in 2008, youths in Thawang were enthusiastically involved in poll campaign to ensure the victory of Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal from the constituency-2 in Rolpa. Now the same group of youths is in favor of poll boycott and backing the CPN-Maoist.
UCPN (Maoist) candidate Onsari Ghartimagar has not dared to enter the ´Maoist capital of insurgency era´ for the poll publicity this time.
The slogans of poll boycott have been painted everywhere Maoist central leaders including Chairman Prachanda used to take refuge and make the war strategy against the state forces during the insurgency.
Gartimangar has been conducting her poll campaign in other area in her constituency but not at Thawang.
After the party split, the Baidhya led faction which has been opposing the upcoming polls, seems to have hold at Thawang. As per their strategy, the poll boycotting side is preparing to make Thawang a ´zero vote´ area.
It is not certain how effective would their strategy be in other parts of the district, but the Baidhya-led faction seems determined for a total poll boycott at Thawang.
Around two thousand voters seem to be supporting them. Even UCPN (Maoist) cadres at Thawang seem to have no option but to toe in the line of Baidhya.
UCPN (Maoist) Thawang Coordinator Grish Pun Magar, said that he is not active in the poll publicity to avert confrontation.
On the other hand, a member of Magarat Rajaya Samiti of the CPN (Maosit), Jaya Prakash Roka, said that the people in the area would not go to any polling stations for votes voluntarily.
“We have floated ´no vote´ policy and the people in the area would voluntarily boycott the upcoming election,” said Roka.
Analysts believe that 80 percent of the voters support of the Baidhya-led Maoist at Thawang.
According to the locals, not a single supporter of the CPN-UML and Nepali Congress Party is found in the area dominated by the ethnic Magar and Dalit communities.
Except for seven families supporting Rastriya Janamorcha in the area, the rest are Maoist supporters.
Rokka further believes that the Janamorcha voters would also support the CPN-Maoist cause. The Baidhya faction being popular in the place is not due to its strong hold among the people. It is because the local people, who shed their sweat and blood during the war time, felt neglected after the Maoist party joined peaceful politics.
The local people who are not happy over the party split are also angry with Dahal for not keeping the promises he had made to them in the last CA.
Thawang , from where 33 Maoist cadres attained martyrdom during their ´people´s revolution´, still bears the scars of the war.
The Thwang folk who suffered incommunicable domination at the hands of the state forces, seemed to have reached a conclusion that voting to any party does not change the situation they have been facing.
According to the UCPN (Maoist) Thawang Coordinator, leaders´ failure to address the problem of the war -time activists of the party has given birth to despair among the people in the area.
They have united against the election because the political parties they had supported at the cost of their lives did nothing for the socio-economic as well as politico-cultural uplift of the region, according to the CPN-Maoist.
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