With the Election Commission recognizing the Gagan Thapa-led working committee elected through a special general convention as the official Congress, a silence has descended on Sher Bahadur Deuba's home district, Dadeldhura. The workers who used to gather in teahouses to discuss Deuba-Gagan and the entire party were not seen much in those places on Saturday. Even those who were found in such places did not want to talk about the latest situation of the party.

The same thing is playing in the minds of most of the district's workers - will Deuba again come to the election field with the tree symbol and the four-star flag or will he come out of a separate party? Or will he take a break from the election competition? Gagan Thapa's working committee also found those who are worried about what will happen to the party now. When Kantipur sought to understand the reaction of the latest turmoil in the party, Congress District President Bhim Bahadur Saud did not want to speak. 'I do not know anything about this, I will know in the coming days. I do not want to say anything now,' he said.

Outgoing Congress President Deuba has been a continuously elected people's representative since 2048 BS. He became the Home Minister in 2048 BS and led the government five times. Deuba has been the party president since 2072 BS. He was also the president of the Congress Democratic Party during the party split in 2059 BS. After the split, the party was unified in 2064 BS without another election.

Deuba, who was elected to parliament by the people of Dadeldhura seven times, became the Prime Minister five times, but the district residents are still forced to migrate to India in search of employment opportunities. Young people are seen leaving the open border crossings in search of opportunities every day.

According to the data recently released by the National Statistics Office, the poverty rate is highest in the Far West Province. The overall poverty rate in Dadeldhura is 33.26 percent. That is, out of the total population of 138,538 in this district, 46,083 people are still below the poverty line. Locals allege that Deuba, who became the Prime Minister after winning elections several times, does not care about such issues.

The Bhimdatta Highway, which is the 'lifeline' for the hilly districts of the Far West, is in a dilapidated condition with blacktops peeling off in places. The 115-kilometer road journey from Attariya in Kailali to Dadeldhura headquarters is almost always difficult. There are potholes everywhere, it gets dusty in winter, and mud during the rainy season. A contract was awarded for highway maintenance four years ago, but no work has been done.

Nirmala Panta Bohara, 38, of Chamsal village, says that she has to suffer because of the road when going to Dhangadhi for treatment. “We are forced to go to Dhangadhi to deliver pregnant women in critical conditions, but it is very difficult because of the road,” she said. “Now, when the youth come to the elections, they will welcome them.” 

There is a 300-bed federal hospital in Dadeldhura. There are 19 permanent posts of specialist doctors, but there is not a single specialist doctor on permanent posts. Only one medical superintendent is working on a permanent post in the hospital. Residents of Dadeldhura say that they are forced to take seriously ill patients to Dhangadhi for treatment, taking four and a half hours.

Although there are no permanent doctors, 14 specialist doctors have been hired on scholarships and contracts, says Tanka Pant, the information officer of Dadeldhura Hospital. The hospital's X-ray machine has been broken for 5 months and has not been repaired yet. If an X-ray is needed, patients are 'referred' to other hospitals. 300 to 500 patients from Bajhang, Bajura, Baitadi, Darchula, Achham and Doti reach Dadeldhura Hospital for treatment every day. About 50 of them are 'referred' elsewhere. 

'There is a federal hospital in the district, but if you need basic bone treatment, you have to go to Dhangadhi,' said Tejraj of Ghatal. Tejraj also expressed his anger at Deuba. 'You only go ahead yourself, look after only your own family, don't you see other people?' He said, 'There are new faces in the party who have resigned, don't you need to give others a chance? Now we need to find an alternative to the old faces.' 

It has been 26 years since the construction of the road to Matela in Deuba's village Ganyapadhura-1 began. The road, which was opened by the World Food Program, has not been blacktopped. About 4 kilometers of the Bhimdatta Highway from Bhatakanda to Ganyapadhura have been demolished in some places, and gravel has been piled up in some places.

Even if vehicles are moving, the dust makes the journey difficult. About 5 years ago, a contract was signed for 95.7 million rupees to blacktop 9 km of the road. Although Anak-Malika JV got the contract to blacktop 4 km, the work has not been completed, while the initial contract stated that it should be completed within three years. The road section damaged by the landslide in Asoj 2081 has not been repaired. 

50-year-old Basanti Air, who was found selling oranges and junar on the Bhimdatta Highway, said that she plans to vote for a leader who listens to the poor. ‘Now we vote for those who listen to the poor,’ she said, ‘After winning the election, the leaders are fighting themselves.’

Deepak Mahata, Senior Vice President of the Dadeldhura Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that he is not confident that Dadeldhura will change its tune when looking for an alternative to Deuba in the upcoming elections. ‘Most people understand that by raising a new party, a new flag, a new banner and launching a party, the country will change,’ he says, ‘but the intentions of the people have not changed, how can there be a new face if the same face is repeated by going to another party and getting a ticket?’ 

There are 7 municipalities in the district, including Amargadhi and Parashuram municipalities. There are Ganyapadhura, Bhageshwor, Alital, Ajaymeru, and Navadurga rural municipalities. There are no blacktop roads in Deuba’s own municipality, Ganyapadhura. The roads in Ajaymeru rural municipality have not been blacktopped yet either. So, have Deuba’s election promises been fulfilled? Bhageshwor Rural Municipality Chairman Hemraj Chataut says, ‘As promised in the 2074 BS elections, a medical college has been established in the district, roads have been blacktopped in five local levels, and a multi-purpose assembly hall is being constructed in the district. A large bus park is being constructed for the hilly districts.’ He says that more than one billion rupees have been allocated for irrigation, drinking water and rural road construction in the current fiscal year. 

BSc Public Health, BSc Staff Nursing, BSc MLT are being taught in the medical college. Hemnath Joshi, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Sudurpaschim University, said that postgraduate studies in medical microbiology are going to be started from this year. Despite the locals’ complaints against Deuba, Mahata claims that there has been a lot of development work.

‘Before 2074 BS, vehicles could only reach two or three local level headquarters. Today, roads have reached the villages,' he said, 'lifting and small and medium irrigation projects have been built, there is internet facility, drinking water and electricity.' He also said that he has not seen any second-tier leader from the 9 districts of the Far West who can lead the country after Deuba. 

Currently, there are 93,403 voters in Dadeldhura, of which 46,446 are women and 46,957 are men. 1,892 new voters were added after the election date was announced. Deuba's polling station is Asigram Secondary School in Ruwakhola, Ganyapadhura-1. Deuba often comes by helicopter to cast his vote. Since he rarely goes to the polling station by road, he has not seen the inconvenience of the road leading to his village. 

Deuba had received 24,570 votes in the 2048 general election. At that time, his main competitor was Govinda Bahadur Kalauni of UML. He got 6,628 votes. Similarly, in the 2051 BS midterm elections, Deuba won by getting 20,701 votes.

His closest competitor, Khemraj Bhatta 'Mayalu' of the Nepal Janabadi Morcha, got 9,966 votes. In the 2056 BS general election, Deuba's competitor was Bageshwori Dutt Chataut of the UML. Deuba won by getting 28,651 votes, while Chataut got 7,840 votes. In the 2064 BS Constituent Assembly elections, Khagraj Bhatta, who was the then CPN-Maoist candidate, narrowly defeated him. Deuba won by a narrow margin. While Deuba got 20,529 votes, Bhatta got 19,161 votes.

In the second constitutional election of 2070 BS, Deuba got 23,920 votes, while Khagraj of the Maoists got only 12,493 votes. In the 2074 elections, Deuba's opponent was Khagraj. Even when Khagraj entered the fray with a left alliance, he could not defeat Deuba. While Deuba got 28,446 votes, Bhatta got only 21,498 votes. 

When it came to the 2079 elections, the party's central committee had taken action against the then district president of the Nepali Congress, Karna Malla, for acting against discipline. Malla BP entered the fray as Deuba's opponent from the Nepali Congress. It was a struggle to ensure that Deuba continued to win in this election. On one side, independent candidate Sagar Dhakal and on the other, Malla, who had rebelled in the party, were in the fray. Even in this difficult time, Deuba won. While he got 25,534 votes, Sagar got 13,042 votes. Malla, on the other hand, came third with 7,535 votes. 

Deuba was recommended as a single candidate from the district before the split of the Nepali Congress in the House of Representatives elections on 21 Falgun. Chakra Snehi from UML and Man Singh Mann from NCP were confirmed as candidates. Chakra is a former National Assembly member. Although there was talk of contesting the election from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) this time, Dhakal, who was an independent candidate, has finally decided not to contest.

Dhakal told Kantipur that he has come to the conclusion that he will not contest the election from Dadeldhura after Gagan Thapa came to power under the leadership of the Congress. He also informed that he had discussed the matter with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Ravi Lamichhane and senior leader Balendra Shah. Terming Deuba's exit as a 'fallen tree', Dhakal made it clear that he would not contest from Dadeldhura even if Deuba contests the election. 'The entire generation of grandfathers has fallen. After Sher Bahadur Deuba left the party and Gagan Thapa is in a position to give the ticket, why should I go to Dadeldhura?' he said.

‘Most parties are afraid to field strong candidates to compete with Deuba in the elections, and it is certain that Deuba will not win the election in Dadeldhura, which is considered a stronghold of the Congress,’ said a local from Dadeldhura Bazaar. The Congress has won five out of seven municipalities in Dadeldhura. The then Maoist won the Alital and Ajaymeru rural municipality chairpersons.

Dr. Tara Joshi, who joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an independent in Dadeldhura, has a good influence. He won as an independent in the province when the Congress and Maoists were in alliance and the UML did not field a candidate. Local Naresh Bhandari says that Joshi, who has been in UML politics for a long time, has a great influence in Deuba’s constituency.

In the previous election, the speech of Congress leader and Deuba’s wife Arju Rana had come under controversy. When Deuba filed his nomination for the 2079 elections, Arju had made a controversial statement at the Chief Election Commissioner's office that Singha Durbar was like 'Khulja Simsim' for the people of Dadeldhura. She had reached Ganeshpur in Ganyapadhura and delivered a speech saying, 'Those who can come by helicopter like us should be allowed to win.'