Interaction program with the Mayor Candidates of Biratnagar

Bikalpa an Alternative in collaboration with Citizen Jury for Corruption Campaign and Nepal TImes organized an interaction program with the Mayor Candidates of Biratnagar on 3rd May 2022 at Hotel Shree Krishna. The program’s main objective was to bring together the Mayor candidates for the forthcoming local election 2079 into the shared space and generate a discussion on each candidate’s plans to cultivate change in the various realms of Biratnagar.

The speakers of the session included Mr. Prahlad Shah (Candidate of Rastriya Prajantrata Party), Mr. Sagar Thapa (Candidate of Nepal Communist Party, Unified Marxist Leninist), Mr.Nagesh Koirala (Candidate of Nepal Congress Party, supported by alliance), Mr. Umesh Yadav (Independent Candidate), and Mr. Amlesh Karn (Candidate of Bibeksheel Sajha Party). They provided deep-dive insights into how they will address the most pressing issues that Biratnagar has been facing. Mr. Uttam Dhungel from Public Forum uttered the opening remarks and handed over the floor to Mr. Basanta Adhikari for the moderation.

The summary of the program is presented below:

Prahlad Shah ( Rastriya Prajatantra Party)

Mr. Shah expressed that citizens should vote for him to transform the appearance of Biratnagar. He wants to create a clean, green, and prosperous Biratnagar. He said that if he is given a chance, he shall end the persistent corruption in the bureaucracy. “ I want to promote the economic condition of Biratnagar by creating an environment to bolster the industrial sectors,” said Mr. Shah. For that, he opined to provide the necessary infrastructures to the industries including cheap electricity and proper transportation facilities. Similarly, the problems of laborers and the working class shall be addressed by offering them the necessary help and support and better job opportunities. He promised to identify the potential resources of the city to bring agile transformation in the various sectors.

Sagar Thapa (Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)

While talking about his vision, Mr. Sagar Thapa said he wants to build a prosperous Biratnagar together with good governance. He set forth his plan to assemble the needed infrastructures for converting Biratnagar from the temporary capital city of province no. 1 to a permanent one. He said that he wants to provide quality education and successfully implement health insurance for the residents of Biratnagar. While talking about his economic agendas, he mentioned that he would build the historical Birat Durbar to attract internal religious tourists as well as set up the religious connectivity to different holy places of province no. 1 by developing Biratnagar as a holding center. He discussed sports tourism and entrepreneurship as crucial factors in upgrading the economic condition of the city. He assured to provide the token of money to motivate and encourage the start-up business. We need an effective measure to revive sick units, and polish up the industrial sectors, added Mr. Thapa.

Nagesh Koirala ( Nepal Congress Party)

Mr. Nagesh Koirala started his saying by recalling the 1000 years of history of Biratnagar. He stated that the most crucial element that metropolitan city needs to address is escalating taxes on the citizens. He intends to increase the tax range and minimize the taxes and utilize the revenue generated for the development of Biratnagar. He envisions building a government hospital in the city to provide the imperative health service to citizens at minimum cost. He added that we have plans to improve sanitation and provide clean drinking water. He further added to convert the waste generated from the households into energy instead of dumping them in sites that have been polluting the environment of Biratnagar. His economic agendas included creating proper trade links with China and India, reviving sick industries, and creating an industrial-friendly city.

Umesh Yadav ( Independent Candidate)

Mr. Yadav stressed on enhancing the educational sector by dissolving the disparity between private and government schools. He mentioned providing door-to-door health facilities to the citizens residing in Biratnagar in health sectors. He put forward his views to come up with better urban sanitation planning and make public toilets across the city. His plans further include developing an appropriate traffic management system by constructing a bypass road. Similarly, he highlighted resolving the waterlogging problem of Biratnagar by building dams around Keshaliya and Singhiya rivers. He expressed his commitment to build a squatter-free metropolis, build houses for them and provide skill-based training to increase employment. Taking about his economic agendas, he said to grant bank loans to the entrepreneurs and motivate people in business to operate businesses based on self-reliant agricultural products.

Amlesh Karn (Biveksheel Sajha Party)

He opined that economic aspects should be given topmost priority to bring prosperity to the city. Agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries must get benefits from the government to uplift the GDP of the country. He set forth his aim to provide the needed infrastructures to the agriculture and manufacturing industries like tools distributions, market linkage, transportation, and communications. He further stressed setting up One door policy to free the service seekers from the bureaucratic hassles they have been enduring. He also put forward his vision to build a market that provides goods at minimum rates for those whose income source is less than Rs 20000. His economic agendas were facilitation for entrepreneurship development, technical and financial support to startups and entrepreneurs, and promoting and supporting youth entrepreneurship.

The program came to a close with a series of questions from the audience, which were duly answered by the speakers. A week ago, Bikalpa organized the interaction program and bring together the leaders from various realms into the shared space to identify the sectoral issues and agendas targeting the upcoming local election in 2079. Mohan Bhandari, Vice-Chairman of Citizens Jury for Corruption Control handover those agendas to all the mayor candidates, and Chairman Mr. Dinesh Shrestha delivered his vote of thanks to all the speakers and audience. Around 177 participants from diverse sectors attended the program. The program was live-streamed by Nepal times and widely covered at the local and national print and online news portals.

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