‘The craze he (Resham Chaudhary) had until recently is no more. The trust that was given to the Civil Liberation Party in 2079 BS, the issue with which we sent it to Parliament, could not be established. The party itself was destroyed.’ This is the recent comment made by Bishram Kusmi (Chaudhari), who returned home after spending 3 years in prison on charges of being involved in the incident that took place in Tikapur on 7 Bhadra 2072 BS during the Tharu movement and was proven innocent by the court. 

He looked frustrated while describing the suffering he suffered from the Vishram movement and the blow to the hopes of the community near the agricultural campus in Tikapur. Bishram was arrested on 24 Chaitra 2072 BS. He was found innocent and released from prison on 22 Falgun 2075 BS. His belief remains that the movement will continue to take society forward.

The Civil Liberation Party, formed on the strength of that movement with Resham Lal Chaudhary as its patron and Ranjita Shrestha Chaudhary as its president, has now disintegrated. Due to the dispute between the couple, Resham's supporters have now formed the Civil Liberation Party Nepal, while Ranjita's group has merged with the NCP. 

In the 2079 elections, Civil Liberation Party won three seats in the Kailali Tikapur constituency. Resham's father Lalbir had won from Bardiya as an independent candidate and became an MP. Later, Lalbir joined Civil Liberation Party. However, now there is no trace of this party in Tikapur, the base area of ​​Civil Liberation. As the leaders of Civil Liberation Party have been divided in the past three years, even voters who voted for the party's election symbol, Dhakiya, in the last election are regretting it. 

The Civil Liberation Party, which won three out of five constituencies in Kailali in the 2079 House of Representatives elections, is not in the election fray this time. There is neither the party's name nor the election symbol, Dhakiya. In this election, the candidates have not been able to present the Tharu movement's agenda to the people.

'Although they are still emphasizing development. Congress is talking about education and health. UML is also emphasizing more on free education and free health,' said Dil Bahadur Chaudhary, the president of the Tharu Civil Society Kailali, a voter from Kailali-1. 'The atmosphere has changed, the issue was Tharuwan earlier, now it is not discussed.'

Dil Bahadur said that the voters of Tikapur, who had cast their votes on issues in the previous elections, are divided this time. 'Dhakiya has been divided into different parts. That is why the voters have also been scattered and the leaders are even more divided. Some have gone for the electricity symbol, some are for Chakia, some are also talking about Dhikiya and some are also moving towards Mato,' he said.

Resham, who is the guardian of Naupa Nepal, has the Chakia election symbol this time. But he is not in an easy position to ask for votes like before. Tikapur is in Kailali-1. He had filed his candidacy here. His candidacy was canceled because he was convicted of a criminal offense by the Supreme Court. He has supported independent candidate Phaguram Chaudhary in this constituency. 

Ramlal Dagoura Tharu is the candidate from the NCP in Kailali-1. He won the local level election from Naupa and became the mayor of Tikapur Municipality. Another Naupa leader, Pradeep Chaudhary, has become a candidate from Ujjaya Nepal from the same constituency. A piece of Naupa has joined the Shram Sanskriti Party. Saraswati Chaudhary has become a candidate from the Shram Sanskriti Party. The group of Damodar Pandit, who was the senior vice-president of that party, has merged with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In Kailali-1, the RSSS has nominated Komal Gyawali, a former member of Naupa, as its candidate. Another leader, Rupa Chaudhary, has become a candidate from the Aam Janata Party. UML's Dwarika Prasad Neupane and Congress' Janak Chaudhary are candidates.

Leader Dil Bahadur says that the impact of silk will now be assessed by the election results. 'It seems that the situation of silk is no longer the same as it was before.' In my opinion, Kailali will probably protect his honor, especially from constituency number 2, otherwise it will be difficult,' he said. In the previous constituency, Resham's name was also voted for from Bardiya.

Firulal Chaudhary, a civil society leader active in Tikapur, says that the movement for Tharu identity has been overshadowed after Naupa's leadership deviated from the party's objectives. 'The goal of the Civil Liberation Party was to take the issues of the Tharus from the streets to the parliament. But in the meantime, I feel that the people within it have worked to divide them, rather than the family conflict,' he said.

According to him, the Tharus are now divided into four political parties. 'The Civil Liberation Party was a gathering of those dissatisfied with the UML, RPP and Congress. Some followed Resham and some followed Ranjita, which led to the party's collapse. In fact, it is not just the quarrel between this couple, but those focused on self-interest have prevailed,' Firulal said.

Somi Chaudhary of the New Lifepur squatter settlement said that voters voted with the trust of silkworms, but the work did not work as expected. She said from the squatter camp near the agricultural campus in Kailali-1, ‘We voted with the trust of silkworms. However, her party and power are gone.’ Ranjita, who was elected earlier from Kailali-1, has not appeared this time. Leaders including Resham are also trying to evade questions from voters. Voters have said that leaders including Resham are not gathering voters like before and are getting away with giving leaflets to evade complaints. 

Somi also said that now the leaders are not in the mood to vote. Stating that they have not been given the land title deeds of the land they have been living on for three generations, she said that the process of leaders coming to the elections and asking for votes continues. ‘It seems like hope is dead. It seems like no one is doing it now. It seems like no one is voting for anyone. Candidates come to campaign, give leaflets and go away. They do not campaign like before. Earlier, people from all over the village used to gather and talk, but this time no one did. If they did, someone would raise questions, but this time they did not do that either,' she said. 

Tharu community leaders have also raised questions about Resham and Ranjita's relationship. They suspect that they have made it seem like they were fighting to spread confusion among the people. NCP candidate Ramlal Dagoura Tharu says, 'The main reason for the controversy is that Reshamlal Chaudhary opened Naupa Nepal despite being a Naupa. The second reason is the disagreement between the patron and the chairman. Rather than running the party in an institutional manner, trying to run it like a personal company has betrayed the Tharu community.'

Resham is not ready to accept that the party has disintegrated because of him. He says that the problem is the extreme ambition of those who are organized in the party. 'This happened when friends who do not understand the party's policies, methods, and political principles become extremely ambitious. It became difficult to manage the party when they had ambitions without understanding their status in society,' Resham said. He says that despite all his efforts, Naupa could not be saved. 

Resham says that he made his wife the party president on everyone's advice. 'It was called a family matter, which only served as a way to blame,' he said. Resham claims that he is leading the Tharu community's movement. 'We are taking the demands and issues of the Tharu community, including the marginalized, Dalit, backward Madhesi, and Muslims,' he said. 

At the voter level, it seems that Resham and Ranjita have not only failed to work, but have also destroyed the Tharu party and agenda. Leaders and voters say that no matter how much they talk about rights, they are not in a position to believe them. ‘The same leader has come with different agendas and parties,’ said Sonlal Katharia of Kanchanpur village in Tikapur. ‘If only 10 percent of the promises had been fulfilled, I would have believed him.’

Resham, who was on trial for his involvement in the ‘Tikapur incident’ in which nine people, including a minor, died on 7 Bhadra 2072 during the Tharuhat movement, had formed the Civil Liberation Party from prison. As per Resham’s plan, the Civil Liberation Party was registered with the Election Commission on 19 Poush 2078 under the chairmanship of his wife Ranjita. In the elections held within six months of the party’s formation, Civil Liberation Party won significant victories in the House of Representatives, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces.