Even after decades of being declared a municipality through the activities of the Nagar Panchayat and the Nagar Vikas Samiti, the citizens of Jaleshwor have still not been able to embrace the urban character of owning a city. Being a city also means having wide roads, tall houses, and narrow lanes with lights, but that alone does not make a city.

To be called a city, urban consciousness should be expanded. Life cannot exist without the use of water, but it should be the duty of every citizen, not only the concerned body, to know where the polluted water that is used and discarded goes. A city with a dirty look may look attractive.

A livable city should also continuously adopt measures to control land pollution, air pollution, water pollution, light pollution and sound pollution, along with thought pollution. Like the bustling markets of the postal road from Bhadrapur to Rajbiraj via Gaur and from Taulihawa to Dhangadhi, Jaleshwar has clearly been transformed into an area of ​​uncontrolled settlement in an attempt to become a city even before it became a city.

Since Jaleshwarnath is one of the four guardian Mahadevs of the ‘Mithila Nagariya’ of the ancient Videha Republic – Kalyaneshwar, Jaleshwar, Kshireshwar and Mithileshwar, the oldest form of pilgrimage of this primitive settlement must have been the place of pilgrimage. According to legend, the temple of Jaleshwornath was built in its current form by selling gold found while digging a field in a nearby village called Sonukhara.

The subbas of the Thapas and the Badahakims of the Rana period to the Anchaladhees of the Shah kings also made Jaleshwor the headquarters instead of Janakpur. The transformation of Jaleshwor, which has been stalled since then, has not yet gained momentum. Although the linga and sanctum sanctorum, which are often submerged, appear ancient, the external structure in the shikhara style may be only a few decades older than the Janaki Temple in Janakpur. Since the Bighi and Rato rivers were a shopping center for the irrigated agricultural areas, the history of its transformation from a temporary center for the exchange and purchase of agricultural products and essential daily necessities to a permanent market is not very old.  

Even during Bahadur Shah's campaign to consolidate the Gorkha empire, the headquarters of military and civil affairs used to be nearby Bhramarpura. Although the district was formed and the headquarters was established a little later, Jaleshwar had already started to be seen by the elites of the Gorkha Empire after the Sugauli Treaty because of its good climate. The Thapa subbas and the Rana period's Badahakim and the Shah kings' Anchaladhees had also made Jaleshwar the headquarters instead of Janakpur. The transformation of Jaleshwar, which has been stalled since then, has not yet gained momentum.

As the parasitic middlemen have become increasingly troublesome in a pure administrative center that has no particular use in production, exchange, and services, the local elites have also been migrating. The farmers of the neighboring villages choose the nearby dynamic cities instead of the stagnant headquarters to seek urban amenities. After that, it is natural that professional service providers such as doctors, engineers, and lawyers also move along with their service recipients.

In Maithili, while playing with children, the grandparents recite a rhyme – ‘Ghughuva manna/Upaje dhanna/Baua ke chheda dev/Dunu kan sonna/Nav ghar ute/Puraan ghar khase.’ It was Juddhashamsher who had started transforming Janakpur from a 'dham' where even the soil was considered sacred into a trading center for exporting timber through the railway line. After the neighboring landlords and moneylenders started establishing modern rice mills in the paddy fields between the Kamala and Bagmati rivers, Janakpur developed into a center for rice production, just as Biratnagar was called the city of jute mills. In the 1960s, when the Janakpur Cigarette Factory and the local college were opened, Janakpurdham became dynamic and the slumber began to fade, the ideal village panchayat of that time, Jaleshwar.  The business families who maintained the hustle and bustle of Jaleshwar Bazaar – Murarka, Jalan, Sah – migrated to Birgunj after 1990 due to the ‘national capitalism’ policy of the then UML and reached Kathmandu. The market, which has become ugly since the new house of the renowned Nandu Madwadi, who has been a favorite of the district magistrates and district chiefs, was demolished by a bulldozer on the pretext of widening the road, has not yet returned to its original state.

Perhaps the descendants of Ramu Marwadi are about to give their ancestral house a new look. In Maithili, when children play, grandparents recite a rhyme – ‘Ghughuva manna/Upaje dhanna/Baua ke chheda dev/Dunu kan sonna/Nav ghar uthee/Puraan ghar khase.’ It is natural for the old body to fall after the new house of the soul, that is, the new youth, rises. Although it is natural for the physical structure to demolish the old and build a new one, it is not possible without uncertainty and upheaval in the leadership of the family, society and politics. Perhaps that is why, although there is some excitement about the upcoming elections, enthusiasm is not seen much even in a politically competitive district like Dhanusha. In Mahottari, even some candidates seem indifferent. The comment about the election, ‘This is a democratic ritual, an act that is being done without expecting results’— such an answer would surprise the questioner.

Seasonal environment

According to the cycle of four seasons, the arrival of the season king is considered from Basant Panchami. Following the example of the deposed kings, the President of the Republic of Nepal rides to Hanuman Dhoka Palace on the same day for Basant Shravan. The famous Sufi qabbali ‘Sakal Ban Phool Rahi Sarson’, dedicated to Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and composed in Brajbhasha by Amir Khusro in the fourteenth century, is still sung on the day of Basant Panchami at the Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi. The colors and the abir start flying from Basant Panchami, but according to the division of the six seasons, the winter that falls in Magh and Falgun still has a few days left.

Since marriage is not just a relationship between two people but also an opportunity to connect family and society, people of all economic classes spend a little more than their status. The queen of seasons, however, starts roaming openly in the mango orchards of Madhesh only after Falgun Purnima. Since a significant part of Jaleshwor Municipality is still rural, it seems that the green wheat fields have been adorned with yellow-flowered mustard plants. The passions planted in the fields are growing. The morning mist clears in the afternoon and the sun begins to warm the day, but gradually becomes colder as the evening fades. Mosquitoes have started to appear, although flies are still found only sporadically. Although it is called winter, Falgun is the most suitable season for festivals and weddings. 

Perhaps because family and marriage are the basis of an organized society, marriage is established as the most important ritual among the sixteen rituals of Hindus. Since marriage is not just a relationship between two people but also an opportunity to connect families and society, people from all economic classes spend a little more than their means. In the days when rice was the main source of income and clothes were sold to buy clothes, even ordinary farmers used to sell land to finance their children's weddings. Remittance flows are displacing non-subsistence agriculture.

Khaini traders have turned to gutkha. The evening drink of revelry has turned into alcohol. Empty packets of biscuits and noodles are also scattered in the fields and barns. Wedding programs are not exempt from the negative effects of new prosperity. Remittance-dependent families constantly follow the exchange rate and the market price of gold - from new customs like gold for jewelry and turmeric-henna to old customs for feasts and meals, remittances have supported the old practices. Even when the economy of Madhesh was based on agriculture, traditional shopping was the engine of economic mobility, and a large part of remittances is still spent on traditional consumption.

Around Dashgaja, however, evening trade is seen in a different light – some food stalls there celebrate Phaguwa all year round. Those who eat across the border ride motorbikes to the northern cities for weekend entertainment. Those who ride bicycles and motorbikes find what they are looking for near Dashgaja. Nitish Kumar’s return to Bihar and the ‘alcohol ban’ there have developed an informal economy in the cities and markets around Dashgaja in Madhesh. Hotels and bars around the border crossings like Jayanagar-Janakpur, Matihani-Madhavapur and Bhithamod-Jaleshwor have gained new customers.

This ‘evening economy’ may have helped to some extent in reducing the trade deficit across the border. It may be a joke, but after Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister again, there was more happiness in Madhesh than in Bihar, and some traders distributed laddus to 'motorcycle porters'! For some traders in Madhesh, Bihar's alcohol prohibition policy is a direct economic opportunity, which strengthens their economic power. Perhaps to atone for their sins, this group stays ahead of others in religious activities. Since Hindutva extremism in Madhesh is more of an economic and political activity than a religious one, it cannot spread without the tacit consent of the police and administration.

During the wedding season, bands, microphones, banquets and colorful tents and tents are seen occupying public roads in the metropolis, but Madhesh is not free from it. The situation is made unbearable by the loudspeakers playing day and night. Bhajans from temples, azans from mosques and so-called Bhojpuri folk songs from wedding houses can make the mind unstable. When asked why he remained silent, one of them replied, “I went to the police to complain, they said to sort out the village’s problems myself. The ward office says that this is how it is here, if you don’t like it, you can file a case. There is no alternative to tolerating it.”

Perhaps because the average Madhesi has no expectations from the state government or even the local government, the excitement of the upcoming elections is limited to the internet and (a) social media. The vehicles running on the roads are adorned with Cupid’s arrow and ‘Falano Weds Dhiskano’ posters rather than party flags. As soon as the election is discussed in tea shops, even now, the conversation begins with the suspicion that the expression ‘Will there be an election?’ leans towards the ironic pessimism inherent in it. Only then does the discussion turn to the complications of the election.

Political scenario

Not Janakpur, the immediate political analysis of Shiv Chowk begins with Bangladesh instead of Birgunj. Tariq Rahman, the chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won two-thirds of the seats in the recent elections, was sworn in as prime minister on February 20. The son of former president General Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, Chairman Rahman’s capabilities remain to be seen, but his main qualification is that he is the heir to the family legacy.

The descendants of the elite initially moved to the capital, the children of the landlords moved to Kathmandu via Janakpur, and business reached Birgunj, but politics is still standing on the ruins of the old inertia, selling the dream of a new 'new home'. The uprising of young people who claim to have led the revolution has legally transferred power in Bangladesh from the family of a freedom fighter to a hereditary heir who was overthrown in a military coup and became the founder of the party from the army chief. With the main opposition also becoming the far-right fanatic Jamaat-e-Islam, it is not unreasonable to assume that there was a pause in the journey of democratic liberalism in Dhaka for a while.  

The submerged Mahadev in the sanctum sanctorum of Jaleshwornath is calm, but on the streets outside, the vehicle of anxious democracy is moving at a slow pace. The descendants of the elite initially moved to the capital, the children of the landlords moved to Kathmandu via Janakpur, and business reached Birgunj, but politics is still standing on the ruins of the old inertia, selling the dream of a new 'new home'. Newness is not very visible in the election competition. The Nepali Congress, after the special general convention, has rejected the claims of senior party politician Ram Chandra Tiwari and nominated Bajrang Nepali, his committed cadre of unity, as its candidate.

पार्टी प्रतिबन्धित रहेका बेला रामचन्द्र तिवारीसँगै क्रियाशील रहेका पूर्वमन्त्री गणेश नेपालीका छोरा हुनु मात्र बजरंगको पात्रता होइन, पार्टी सभापति गगन थापा काठमाडौंमा विद्यार्थी राजनीतिको कखरा सिकिरहेका बेला उनी तिनताक कांग्रेस राजनीतिको गढ मानिने राराब क्याम्पसको विद्यार्थी संघका सभापति भइसकेका थिए । अघिल्लो चुनावमा पार्टीले तत्कालीन लोसपा अध्यक्ष महन्थ ठाकुरलाई समर्थन गर्ने निर्णय गरेपछि उनी सरक्क किनार लागेका थिए । सामान्यजनमा राजनीतिप्रतिको वितृष्णा बुझ्न जलेश्वरस्थित उनको घरको कम्पाउन्डमा आगन्तुकहरूका लागि राखिएका रंगीचंगी प्लास्टिकका खाली कुर्सीको चाङ हेरे पुग्छ ।

अहिले केही अगाडि देखिए पनि कांग्रेसको मृदुभाषी उम्मेदवारलाई टक्कर दिनेहरूमा कोहीभन्दा कोही कम छैनन् । जुझारु मनोजकुमार सिंहका पछाडि एमालेका प्रतिबद्ध कार्यकर्ताहरूको जमात छ । पञ्चायतकालका प्रभावशाली जिल्ला सभापति कुलानन्द झाका नाति उज्ज्वल झा गएको निर्वाचनमा स्वतन्त्र उम्मेदवार थिए, यस पटक राष्ट्रिय स्वतन्त्र पार्टीले उनलाई 

आफ्नो चुनाव चिह्न प्रदान गरेको छ । रास्वपाका ‘पोस्टर ब्वाय’ बालेन्द्र शाहको पुस्तैनी गाउँको जमिनदार उज्ज्वल युवा छन् र आफ्नो उग्र स्वभावलाई नियन्त्रण गर्न प्रयत्नशील देखिन्छन् । जनता समाजवादी पार्टीले प्रभावशाली राजनीतिकर्मी महन्थ ठाकुरकी छोरी मिनाक्षी झालाई उम्मेदवार बनाएको छ । उनको योग्यता यथेष्ट रहे पनि पात्रताका बारेमा भने पार्टी सदस्यहरूसमेत आश्वस्त देखिँदैनन् । नेपाली कम्युनिस्ट पार्टीका राजकिशोर साह एवं जनमत पार्टीका अरबिन्द ठाकुर अझै पनि चर्चामा आउन सकेका छैनन् ।

राजनीतिमा अप्रत्याशित उम्मेदवार (डार्क होर्स क्यान्डिडेट) भनिने प्रतिस्पर्धीहरूले निर्वाचनलाई रोचक बनाउने गर्छन् । जसपा नेपालबाट टिकट नपाएका पूर्वमन्त्री हरिनारायण यादव यस पटक स्वतन्त्र उम्मेदवार छन् । मधेश विद्रोहदेखि नै विचारमा अडिग र हठी छवि बनाएका हरिनारायणका प्रशंसकहरूको कमी छैन । सदाबहार उम्मेदवार रामआधार कापरका समर्थकहरूमा पूर्वमाओवादीदेखि बाहिर एमाले देखिनेहरूसमेत छन् ।

जनमत पार्टीका अरबिन्द ठाकुरलाई धेरैले चिन्दैनन्, तर स्वराजवादीबाट सम्झौतावादी हुँदै ओशो पथगामी भएका चपल (मर्क्युरीअल) राजनीतिकर्मी सीके राउतको मताधार महोत्तरीमा खासै छैन । समसामयिक मधेशको राजनीतिक समाजशास्त्रको सबैभन्दा गहिरो र चुनौतीपूर्ण यथार्थ के हो भने पुरुष मतदाताहरूको उल्लेख्य हिस्सा पश्चिम एसिया, मलेसिया र भारतको औद्योगिक नगरहरूतिर छन् । घरका ‘मरदहरू’ को विस्थापनले मधेशको राजनीतिलाई ‘महिलाको हातमा मत, तर पुरुषको हातमा नेतृत्व’ को विरोधाभासमा पुर्‍याएको छ । राजनीतिक जागरुकता केही ढिलो आएकाले कुनै खास पार्टीप्रतिको प्रतिबद्धता तरल तर उपस्थिति बलियो भएको महिला मत लगभग निर्णायक ठहरिन सक्छ । प्रतिस्पर्धी दलहरूको अल्पदृष्टिले होला, नारी सरोकारका विषयहरू अझै पनि चुनावी चर्चाको केन्द्रमा छैनन् ।

मंगलबारदेखि सार्वजनिक प्रचार सुरु भएपछि सबभन्दा पहिले नेपाली कांग्रेसका अधबैंसे कार्यकर्ताहरू सडकमा देखिन थालेका थिए । केही वंशानुगत गाडी छाप र बाँकी भने आफ्नो जीवन सुरक्षित गरिसकेका कांग्रेस समर्थक हेर्दै सुविधासम्पन्न देखिन्छन् । जनसमूह परिचालन गर्ने ठेकेदारले जम्मा गर्ने रास्वपाको भाँडाको भीडमा भने अरब वा मलेसियाको भिसा कुरिरहेका युवाहरूको बाहुल्य स्पष्ट देख्न सकिन्थ्यो । तिनको अर्को विशेषता युट्युबरहरूको झुन्ड हुँदोरहेछ । नीलो कुर्ता लगाएको दर्शक देख्नासाथ एउटाले माइक तेर्स्याइहाले– ‘अब की बार, बालेन सरकार, होइन त सर ?’ अहिलेको सरकार बालेनको सहमतिमा नै सेनाले बनाएकाले यो ‘बालेन सरकार’ हो । यसपछि जनप्रतिनिधिको सरकार हुन्छ ।

नामै तोकेर महोत्तरीप्रति लक्षित खस–आर्य समुदायका नृजातीय मुख्तियारको ‘गोबर–गुइँठा’ टिप्पणीले उब्जाएको रिस जति छिटोछोटा भिडियोहरूबाट फैलिएको थियो, राजनीतिक चुनौती कायम राख्न नसकेकाले त्यति नै छिटो साम्य पनि भइरहेको छ । सायद त्यो क्लिप युट्युबरले प्रयोग गर्ने छैनन् । सबभन्दा रमाइलो केही ई–रिक्सा चालकले गर्छन्– यात्रुको कुर्ताको रङ गाढा रातो छ भने गाछी, पहेंलो छ भने हलो र नीलो छ भने घण्टी छाप झन्डा सिट मुनिबाट झिकेर फहराइहाल्छन् π तपाईंहरू कता ? प्रश्नको उत्तरमा एउटा एमाले ‘होलटाइमर’ ले भने– यी थाकेर रक्सी–मासुमा लागेपछि हामी चुनावभन्दा अगाडि आँधी–तुफान बनेर आउने हो । अहिले नै केही भनिहाल्न हतारो हुनेछ, तर आयोजन खर्च हेर्दा रास्वपा सबभन्दा साधनसम्पन्न देखिन्छ ।’ 

सन् २००७–०८ को मधेश विद्रोहहरूले सिंहदरबारलाई प्रश्नको घेरामा पुर्‍याएको थियो । संविधानसभालाई झकझकाएको थियो । समानुपातिकता र संघीयतामार्फत राज्य र परिधिको सम्बन्धलाई सधैंका लागि पुनर्परिभाषित गर्ने प्रयत्न गरेको थियो । सन् २०१५ को मधेश आन्दोलनको निर्मम दमनपछि जोसमाथि होस हाबी भयो र मधेश आश्रित दलहरू समर्पणवादी भए । मधेशको चुनावी राजनीति पुनः संरक्षक र संरक्षित सम्बन्ध, जातीय अंकगणित, संरचनागत चलखेल, तत्कालिक लाभको लेखाजोखा, ओझेलमा पारिएका दलित–मुस्लिम मतदाताको बीजगणित र प्रतिस्पर्धात्मक नगद प्रवाहको ज्यामितीय ढाँचामा फर्किएको छ ।