Bishnu Prasad Chaudhary has become the candidate from the Nepali Communist Party in Bardiya's House of Representatives Constituency No. 1. Having won the Constituent Assembly member election in 2064 BS, he is looking to win this time when his competitors are facing off.

Along with Chaudhary of the NCP, 21 people including Sanjay Gautam of the Congress, Shalikram Adhikari of the UML, Thakur Singh Tharu of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Abdul Khan of the Nagarik Unmuktika are in the election contest in this constituency. 168,034 voters will elect one of the 21 candidates from Bardiya 1 on Falgun 21. The candidates are conducting door-to-door programs to get that one. An edited excerpt of a conversation between Chaudhary, who is the former chairman of the Tharu Commission, and Kantipur's Jaisingh Mahara and Kamal Panthi :

What are you asking for votes in this constituency?

The main thing is our party's central manifesto. There are many things in the commitment letter. Along with that, we have been raising the remaining issues of the problem here from the perspective of Bardiya. Rural roads have not yet been expanded. Although the issue of rehabilitation of freed Kamaiyas has been completed, the government conducted another study in 2078 BS when I was the chairman of the Tharu Commission. That report is pending. That report contains many new things about freed Kamaiyas and Kamlari. Many recommendations have been made about rehabilitation, employment, and health, but they have not been implemented.

The issue of squatters in this area is pending. Since they have been living there since 2024, they still have not received land titles. These various issues are being raised.

In the election campaign, development issues are given priority over lawmaking, right?

The people do not seem to have raised the issue of lawmaking. I am raising the issue of lawmaking with priority. I am explaining that lawmaking is the main issue. MPs are supposed to make laws and facilitate development. The law itself guides everything. The challenges we are facing cannot be solved without reforming the law. For example, human-wildlife conflict, the problem of cutting down trees during road construction. A law needs to be made to solve this.

Here too, the budget is allocated, but development work is left behind. But all the scolding leaders have to be scolded. A situation has arisen where scolding is done without reforming the law. If the laws including contracts are not reformed, development work cannot move forward.

A major flood occurred in this area in Shrawan 2071 and caused great damage. After more than a decade, you have not expressed your opinion on river erosion, have you?

We have also been raising this issue. That flood has washed away the land and the village into the Babai River. Due to river erosion, a lot of land has fallen into the river, and the people are paying land tax. The situation of paying land tax but not being able to use it should be ended. Compensation should be paid.

Locals are dying in this area due to leopard and tiger attacks. People stay indoors at 7 pm. Children are afraid to go to school. What do you think about this?

We are under the influence of climate change. The earth's temperature is increasing, which is due to industrialized countries. We are being affected by it. On the other hand, we should be affected in the name of conservation. We are facing the double blow of environment and wildlife conservation. Here we are mainly talking about tigers. A certain area is needed for them. If the tiger exceeds our capacity.

Tigers went to the park, leopards were displaced and started coming to the community. That has also added challenges. They have entered the community because they could not find food in the forest and this has added challenges. To solve this, we need to seek advice from experts.

There is a Bardiya District Hospital but there are no expert doctors. What do you think about the health services here?

We have not raised this issue at the district level, but it has been included in the issue of improving the health sector of the union. Health insurance has also been taken forward. There has been a problem due to not being able to pay the insurance amount. We are seeing challenges in health care. The issue of a medical college in the district is also being raised, but the construction work has not been able to be carried forward.

There are candidates who have won twice in a row and also new candidates in this constituency. How do you view this competition?

I will put my point to the voters. I want to talk about the party's ideas and plans. I don't want to say this and that about the competing candidates.

The voters might be calling you old and the other new, what will be the reaction in such a situation?

Who should be called new? What are the ideas and principles of the new? These issues should be clear. We should think about what their activities are.

Your party has been saying that we will make Tharuwan. You said that you will change everything, but you yourself changed. Doesn't this question arise for you?

We have been saying that we will build a new Nepal. We have said that we will change all the political and administrative structures. But everything was not possible. We are suffering because we made mistakes in the governance structure. We were talking about a directly elected executive president, but the Congress became an obstacle to that issue. UML got behind it. The Maoists have not found any solution and we are in the current situation. The issue of good governance is also hidden here. The issue of corruption and commission is also linked to the form of government. The electoral system we are adopting has also caused problems. There is a situation where a coalition government has to be formed. There is a situation where a government is formed with a majority, MPs become ministers and there is a huge expenditure on elections. This is a situation where everyone is being discredited. The people must be thinking in a new way, right?