Nepal’s much-awaited parliamentary election has thrown up an early surprise with the likely defeat of former Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav who has been one of the tallest leaders of Nepal’s Terai or Madhes region.
Early trends of the election held on November 20 has shown that Mr. Yadav is trailing by more than 1,020 votes in Saptari-2 parliamentary seat behind C. K. Raut of the new political formation named Janamat Party. Saptari located in the Madhes region bordering Bihar is an important constituency of Nepal and has played a historic role in the Madhesi movement over the last two decades.
The trailing of Mr. Yadav, leader of Janata Samajbadi Party, a constituent of the Nepali Congress-led ruling coalition is also bad news for the coalition which may have to rejig its strategy.
C. K. Raut rose to prominence during the Madhesi movement 0f 2015-’16 after the Madhesi agitation intensified as Nepal’s new constitution was adopted on September 20 of that year. The Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (United Democratic Madhesi Front of SLMM) quickly mobilised against the new constitution and demanded crucial amendments into the text that they claimed was discriminatory and reduced space for the Madhesi citizens of Nepal’s plains.
An election commission staff separates ballot papers to count a day after the general election in Kathmandu, on November 21, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP
The SLMM was led by Upendra Yadav, Mahant Thakur, Rajendra Mahato — the tallest of the few Madhesi leaders who had brought the issue of representation of their community to the middle of Nepal’s new democracy.
It was in this backdrop that, Chandra Kanta (CK) Raut emerged first as a leader of Alliance for Independent Madhes which demanded secession of the Madhes region from Nepal. Mr Raut travelled to India on certain occasions to garner support to the cause of a separate Madhes region. His “free Madhes” campaign on social media had brought him in spotlight and also led to his subsequent arrest by the government of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli.
In March 2019, Mr. Raut signed an 11-point agreement with the Government of Prime Minister Oli in which he agreed to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nepal and chose to end his campaign for independent Madhes.
Mr. Raut’s victory over Upendra Yadav is expected to send a message about the arrival of the younger generation of Madhesi leaders in Nepal’s political landscape. The victory at Saptari is also symbolic as it was at Saptari that the SLMM had convened three days after the constitution was adopted on September 20, 2015.
At a meeting convened at Rajbiraj on September 23, 2015, the Madhesi leaders had pledged to start a blockade which had lasted several months and brought Kathmandu to its knees. But at that time C. K. Raut had adopted a more radical position that he subsequently abandoned because of the 11-point agreement with PM Oli’s government.
