Leaders and cadres of Nagarik Unmukti Party participating in an election campaign in Kailali. (Photo: Nepalkhabar)
Tikapur of Kailali district is in the limelight of national and regional politics ahead of federal parliament and provincial assembly elections scheduled to be held on November 20.
Among five electoral constituencies in the district, Kailali-1 is in the limelight where Tharu voters are considered decisive in voting results.
In the constituency, primarily, there will be a two-horse race between the ruling Nepali Congress and the recently-founded Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) in the upcoming polls, according to local observers.
There are two major contenders in this constituency. NC's Ram Janam Chaudhary, a former minister and veteran Tharu leader in the district, is contesting elections while NUP's Ranjita Shrestha has fielded her candidacy under the first-past-the-post category.
Ram Janam, a former parliamentarian, is a common candidate from the ruling coalition and looks optimistic towards winning elections.
The main opposition CPN-UML is also in the fray and its election candidate is Tapendra Rawal, a local.
Ranjita, 39, is the wife of Resham Chaudhary who has been serving a jail term since 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Tikapur incident. Resham, her husband, has clout in the constituency and can influence the upcoming elections, too. Therefore, Ranjit also looks confident about winning elections cashing in on Tharu sentiments.
Resham, who went into hiding after the Tikapur incident, was able to win elections in 2017 representing the then Rastriya Janata Party. He had been on the run and eventually surrendered to the police in 2018.
According to locals, Resham is doing everything to expand his party's influence across the Tharu community from behind the bars itself as he did in the 2017 polls.
Ram Janam of NC has a long political career while Ranjita is a chairman of NUP which fared exceptionally well in the last local-level elections by cashing in on Tharu sentiments in the aftermath of the Tikapur incident.
Even though the NUP was established only in January this year, the party was able to win four out of 13 local bodies, becoming the largest party in the district.
Encouraged by the results of local level polls, the NUP decided to contest federal parliament and provincial assembly elections.
Keshar Bahadur Kunwar, the head of Tikapur Multiple Campus, told Nepalkhabar that the NUP said that the outcome of local-level polls is a testimony that the party has deep penetration among the general public.
"Ranjita has a high prospect of winning elections by cashing in on the sentiment of Tharus who felt deeply hurt by police torture in the wake of the Tikapur incident. Ranjita is challenging Ram Janam of NC who maintained his stronghold in this area for a long time," Kunwar told Nepalkhabar.
Apart from Kailali-1, the party has filed nominations in electoral constituencies 2, 3, and 4. In Kailali-2 Arun Kumar Chaudhary is the election candidate under the first-past-the-post category. Gangaram Chaudhary is the NUP's election candidate in Kailali-3. In Kailali-4, Kaiya Chaudhary is NUP's election candidate. In the provincial assembly elections, too, the party has fielded candidacies.
Tikapur incident
The little-known township made the headlines for the first time after it witnessed a violent clash between the indigenous Tharus and the security personnel in August 2015. Enraged Tharu protesters, who were demanding a separate Tharuhat/Tharuhat Province, attacked policemen indiscriminately and butchered seven on-duty policemen including SSP Laxman Neupane. A police officer was also burnt alive by the angry mob.
Resham Chaudhary, a journalist-turned-political activist from Tharu community, was named the mastermind behind the incident.
The gruesome incident took place when political activists from the Tharu community were staging protests against a draft of the constitution that was taken to the general public for comment.
Amid heated debates on the delineation of provincial boundaries and the number of provinces in the new federal set-up, protests intensified under the banner of the Tharuhat/Tharuwan Struggle Committee. They staged demonstrations demanding greater autonomy for their indigenous group in the new constitution.
