Nepal, April 9 -- Birgunj appears to have partially reclaimed its traditional vitality. The quadruple whammy-the violent suppression of the Third Madhesh Uprising with at least 50 lives lost, the enforcement of a contested constitution with a curfew and the police firing, killing a protestor, the devastating impact of Covid-19 pandemic and the gradual decay in the infrastructure of the city-had debilitated the commercial hub of the country for a decade. The anger against the establishment in Kathmandu remains, but a bit of it has now been directed against the three federal ministers from the Parsa district who owe their position to the martyrs of Madhesh Uprisings.

In 2015, Ajay Kumar Chaurasia of the Nepali Congress went against the par...