His joy knew no bounds when he heard the news that he had been included in the closed list for the proportional representation for the upcoming election of members of the House of Representatives on February 21. He had not even thought that the party would put him on its closed list for the proportional representation.

‘I had heard rumors, but I didn’t think the party would keep him,’ said Mangal Singh Chepang. ‘I thought the party was evaluating me for quitting my studies and fighting the people’s war.’

The Nepali Communist Party (NCP) has placed 39-year-old Mangal Singh of Siddhakali, Manahari Rural Municipality-3, Makawanpur, on the proportional list. Mangal Singh, who was a keen student, joined the then Maoist party and fought in the war while studying in the 6th grade. Not only him, his brother Raju Chepang was also involved in the Maoists. Both brothers carried guns saying that the country should change.

He said that his brother Raju Chepang, who was injured during the war, died during treatment in Sunwal, Nawalparasi in 2061 BS. Claiming that he fought for change as a platoon commander, he said, "When the peace process began, I took voluntary retirement with 500,000 rupees during the adjustment of the army." At that time, he was staying in the temporary camp of the Maoist army in Sainamaina. He was also considered an unfit combatant due to his young age.

He joined the Maoist war through the People's Militia in 2058 BS. He entered Kathmandu in 2068 BS with the money received from voluntary retirement. In Kathmandu, he operated a lunch shop from lunch to evening. Recently, he has opened a meat shop in Koteshwor, Kathmandu. "I have been running a meat shop for four years," he said, "It sells well."

He said that along with the shop, he also works for the party. He claimed that the NCP was formed by various parties, which has aroused enthusiasm among the people. Before he came to Kathmandu, his wife had come to Kathmandu and started working at a petrol pump. He said that this made it easy for him to live in Kathmandu. His wife is still working at a petrol pump. Mangal, who has become a father of two children, says that he is now balancing his time between running a meat shop, taking care of his children, and party work.

Mangal Singh is not only a martyr, he is also a fighter, which is why the party has put him on the proportional list from the extremely marginalized, that is, minority cluster, said Bhim Pakhrin, coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party, Makawanpur. Born on Magh 2, 2043, Mangal Singh joined the Maoist war before he turned 15. His brother Raju was the one who guided him on this path. Even now, remembering his brother, he says, ‘The path my brother walked was right, that’s why I walked it.’

Mangal Singh, along with three others from Chepang, an extremely marginalized group, an indigenous community of Nepal that is numerically small and is left behind in the facilities and opportunities provided by the state, have been included in the closed list for the upcoming proportional representation elections for members of the House of Representatives.

Two old and one newly formed party have put two people from Chitwan and one from Makawanpur on the banned list. The CPN-UML, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) and the Dynamic Democratic Party (Galopa) have put one Chepang each on the banned list.

According to Govinda Ram Chepang, a member of the Constituent Assembly and the president of the Nepal Chepang Association, the UML has put Santa Bahadur Chepang from Shaktikhor, Chitwan, Biswas Chepang from Korak, Galopa, and the CPN has put Mangal Singh Chepang from Makawanpur Manahari on the banned list. In the 2064 BS Constituent Assembly, the UML had nominated Govinda Chepang from Makawanpur and Maya Chepang from the then Maoist Gorkha as members of the Constituent Assembly.