Rastriya Swatantra Party Candidate Responds to Critics, Citing Humble Farming Roots

Kathmandu. Ashika Tamang, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate for Dhading-1, stated that she is being criticized by those who have no connection to mud and cow dung.

She wrote on social media: 'I am not just an ordinary person born in Malekhu, Dhading; I am the daughter of a farmer who has struggled from an extremely underprivileged family. My childhood memories are not etched on the walls of a palace, but on those slopes and the edges of others' fields in Malekhu. Today, as opponents mock me over a natural activity of mine, I have no complaints against those critics. Because those who have never associated with mud and cow dung can never understand its essence.'

She further wrote: 'My revered father spent his entire life living in someone else's house and toiling in someone else's fields with his sweat. In that difficult situation where we didn't even own a house, my father raised us by working as a plowman in others' homes. The needs of our family were met by those goats in the shed and chickens in the coop. For countless farmers in Nepal, those livestock are not just animals; they are like their own children. Our daily routine, which began with the rooster's crow upon waking up, was delighted by the bleating of goat kids.'

'When we had to sell a kid we had raised in our lap to meet the household expenses, how much my father and I would weep. The pain of having to exchange a creature loved like one's own child for money is still reflected in the eyes of all Nepali farmers, not just those in Dhading,' she said.

Tamang added: 'My request to my opposing friends is this: instead of spreading misinformation against me and mocking my background, go to the doorsteps of the people with your own agendas. Before opposing me, apologize for the corruption you have committed in the past and the sins you have imposed on the people. You have always treated people merely as a means for votes, but now the conscious public understands your deception. I have no excuse to forget my background and the hardships of my farmer brothers and sisters.'