”Now, just looking at the candidates makes me sick,” said a local Tharu immigrant. ”We voted for the same party and won, thinking they would do the work. But the leaders went to Butwal, Dang, and Kathmandu to improve their standard of living. Ours is the same as theirs.”
Mahadev Tharu, 86, of Vijayanagar-1, Juwabairat, is not excited to vote this time. He started voting since the election of national panchayat members held on 29 Baisakh 2043 and is waiting to vote for the ninth time. ‘But, this time there is no enthusiasm like before,’ he said, ‘Even though the system has changed in front of me, our situation has not changed.’
Panchayat was overthrown and democracy was established. Democracy has also reached the republican period through democracy. However, the residents of Juwabairat are struggling for basic necessities. The children here are not able to study. There is no road for easy movement. There is also no health center for treatment. The more you ask about the story of the village, which is shrouded in poverty and suffering, the more the residents feel pain. They get upset when they tell their problems.
Mangal Prasad Gupta, who contested the election of a national panchayat member for the first time in 043 BS, achieved success in the parliamentary election of 079 BS. Gupta, who had suffered defeat in 6 elections, won the garland of victory from this constituency for the seventh time. Even though Gupta's losing streak was broken, the situation in Juwa Bairath is the same. The village is very backward due to geographical remoteness, illiteracy and poverty. It is a border settlement in the north-west of the district. The Arra River, which flows alongside the village, separates the border not only of the district but also of two countries. Not only public representatives, but also administrators do not reach the settlement without infrastructure. It is difficult to reach the village, which is dominated by the Tharu community. You have to walk through a 6-kilometer forest path to reach the next village, Newlagunj, which is close to it.
Until 072 BS, it was difficult to find a way in the forest. The path was a narrow path. Nothing was used except bicycles. During Dashain-Tihar, the villagers would clear the bushes and prepare a walking path every year. In 2073, the then District Development Committee built a 6/7 meter wide path. However, the dusty path has not been blacktopped. It is difficult to walk for 4/5 months during the rains. The village elder Patiram Tharu said that when the path is muddy, one has to carry a bicycle. There are 2/3 puddles on the forest path. These puddles start flowing as soon as it rains. He said that this also creates problems for movement.
The locals are not enthusiastic about the elections because the people's representatives are not interested in providing basic facilities to the settlement. ‘Leaders come and go,’ he said, ‘and they give assurances after meeting.’ There is no school for students above grade 5 in the village of 145 houses. To study in grade 6, one has to travel 6 kilometers to Newlagunj. There, too, education is only available up to grade 8. To study grade 9, one has to travel 10 kilometers to Gugauli.’
Local Sushmita Thapa, who dropped out of school after having problems going to Gugauli on the forest road, said. ‘The road crosses the Chirai and Bisuwa rivers, but there is no bridge there,’ she said. ‘The forest road is full of fear and anxiety, that’s why I dropped out. There are 15-20 people like me in the village who dropped out of school.’ The Kamana Aadharbhut school in the village lacks buildings and teachers. Due to the lack of classrooms, children in early childhood development and grade 1 are being taught together. Due to the lack of teachers, office assistants are also teaching. 
There are 283 children enrolled in the school. But only half come. Nisha Sigdel, the principal of the school, said that 11 girls who passed grade 5 have dropped out. “But that’s what we see in our records,” she said. “The dropout rate has increased because parents take their children with them when they go to work as wage laborers.” She said that the evening mother education program in the school to make mothers literate was not successful. This school was established in 064 BS. A 5-room building was built in 070 BS.
The villagers here have to go to the market, which is 22 km away, to escape the hustle and bustle of their homes. They have to go to Chandrauta in Nepal and Pachpedwa in India. Both markets are at the same distance. They have to go to Krishnanagar, which is 30 km away, to pay the electricity bill. Electricity was provided to the village in 074 BS. Only four years ago did the villagers get to talk on mobile phones. Communication has become easier after the establishment of Nepal Telecom's BTS tower in Newlagunj in 2078. A local Tharu who had a lot of trouble before said, "That's why I'm tired of seeing the leader candidate," he said, "We won by voting for the same party because they thought they would work. We had hoped that they would improve the living standards of the poor. However, the leader went to Butwal, Dang and Kathmandu to improve his living standards. Ours is the same as his."
To get basic health services, you have to reach Newlagunj, located 6 km east. During the rains, the Arrar River cuts off communication with India. The muddy road and 2/3 of the mudflows on Nepal side bring traffic to a standstill. When we go to Bhukara and Bhojpur markets in India for shopping, Indian security personnel make it difficult. ‘They say, “Stay there, don’t come here.” That’s why we don’t feel like going to the Indian market,” said local Harka Bahadur Rana Magar, “The road to Nepal is not good. The villagers have become like frogs in a well. The leaders have made us just vote banks.”
Although it was once a landlord’s settlement, now no one has more than one bigha of land. Most people have one bigha, otherwise they have an average of 12/15 katthas. Most of them make a living on 5/7 katthas. Locals say that even if they barely get enough to eat, it is not enough to cover the cost of living. That is why they are forced to go to work as wage laborers. There are houses with mud walls and thatched roofs. Some houses are made of thatched roofs and tin roofs. Only a few have built concrete houses. Since they are close to the forest, they have been earning a living by raising goats, chickens and pigs. Public transport does not operate. Motorcycles and bicycles are the main means of transport. 
‘Even now, we have to become like frogs in a well,’ said local Bal Bahadur Tharu, ‘We have to reach Newlagunj even to vote.’ That is why I am in a dilemma whether to go or not this time.’ He said that the excitement of the election was not seen in the village. He said that the lack of income generation and employment as well as development and construction work according to the people’s wishes has increased the disenchantment of the locals towards politics.
‘There is a consciousness of voting without being pressured by anyone in the elections,’ he said, ‘This situation has been created by our leaders.’ In Kapilvastu-3, 36 people, including 13 from the party and 23 independents, have registered their candidacies. There are 148 centers in 72 polling stations in this region, which has 118,404 voters.
