Roads as a site of politics: Kathmandu
Roads and transport infrastructure everywhere were a site of party politics. This was true not only in terms of competing party promises of future improvements or expansions (with the UML, for example, optimistically promising modern high speed cross country train service as well as tram and train service for urban Kathmandu), but also in terms of roads as physical sites, or theaters, of political performances. Roads have long served as key targets of frequent bandhs or strikes staged in protest particularly since the conflict. The long delayed local elections now presented new strategic uses of roadway. During our initial stay in Kathmandu, we were awakened multiple times by the party songs of the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RaPraPra). Vans, trucks and motorcycles mounted with large speakers, blasted these political tunes from the ends of residential alleyways, intersections and parking spots from sunrise until sunset. The songs echoed throughout the districts that we visited as well. Candidates made tours with large entourages. Motorbikes and trucks packed with chanting cadres hurtled along rural roads, sometimes pulling into town late at night. Parades on foot similarly took material and symbolic control of roadways. Motor vehicles and storefronts along the roads were also plastered with political flags and posters of local hopefuls—so much so that it was hard to differentiate business signs from political statements. The increasing importance of roads and mobility in these campaigns were actually shaping the dynamics of the campaigns in significant ways due to the sheer cost of maintaining retinues and claiming road space.