Resham Chaudhary won election from hiding. His 5-month-old party claims Tikapur when he is in jail

Tharus who feel they were shortchanged by the state have spoken through the ballot, activists and analysts say.

In the run-up to the promulgation of the constitution, Nepal’s southern belt was burning—on the eastern part, Madhesis were protesting, and in the far-west region, Tharus were up in arms. And on August 24, 2015, less than a month before major party leaders adopted the constitution in Kathmandu, the Tikapur incident happened. Thousands of Tharus had gathered against politicians’ decision to address the demand for an Akhanda Sudurpaschim, which meant keeping the entire “Far-western Development Region” as a single province in the new federal setup. Tharus felt they were short-changed.