Dhangadhi, Feb. 9 -- As campaigning intensifies in villages and towns across the country ahead of the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5, political parties and candidates are busy canvassing votes.

Yet at the border crossings in Sudurpaschim province, a different scene unfolds. Instead of election enthusiasm, men and women are hurrying across the Nepal-India border in search of work, unsure if they will return on election day to cast their ballots.

At Gaddachauki border point in Kanchanpur district, groups of young men carrying small bags waited to cross, their concerns centred less on politics than on survival. For most of them the choice is not between candidates but between earning and staying unemployed at home...