Kathmandu. With the surfacing of the dispute between the mayor and deputy mayor of Ghodaghodi Municipality, Kailali, the misunderstandings and quarrels between the mayors and deputy mayors of local bodies throughout the country have come to the fore.

The row between the mayor and the deputy mayor of Ghodaghodi Municipality last Friday, during the inauguration of a newly constructed ward office, has created waves in social media and among other peoples representatives. Deputy Mayor Prem Kumari Thapa said that she had raised voice against Mayor Mamta Prasad Chaudhary’s injustice towards her.

Talking with DCNepal, she told, “The inaugural plaque bore the names of all officials except mine. When I asked about the omission, he replied that he had done it deliberately. I was very much hurt by his answer, so I protested against it.”  It has been learnt that Thapa threw stones at the plaque and shouted slogans against the mayor.

The misunderstanding between the mayor and deputy mayor of Ghodaghodi Municipality has raised a question regarding the coordination and combination of mayor and deputy mayor in all local levels of the country.

In most of the municipalities, there is lack of coordination between the male mayors and female deputy mayors even after more than three years of having been elected and working together The female deputies opine that the male mayors are pushed by patriarchal mentality.

Deputy mayor of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City Laksmi Gautam states that the problem is similar in almost all municipalities with male mayors and female deputy mayors. The incident at Ghodaghodi is just a representative case, she said.

Parvati Sanu Dangi, deputy mayor of Myanglung Municipality, Tehrathum, opined that the Local Government Operation Act has provided authority but that is limited to paper only. The deputy mayors have not been able to exercise the power.

“The constitution has designated enough authority, but the deputy mayor is just taken as somebody who works as the head in the absence of the mayor. This is not fair. The duties and responsibilities of the mayor and deputy mayor are different. As per the constitution, the deputy mayor always has his/her own duties to fulfill,” she added.

Deputy Mayor of Kohalpur Municipality, Banke Sanju Kumari Chaudhary also has a similar say. “There are misunderstandings and internal conflicts. Some have come out drawing attentions,” she said. to DCNepal.

“The Ghodaghodi incident could be  the result of lack of coordination between the mayor and deputy mayor as the male mayors in most municipalities operate the office without consulting the female deputy,” Deputy Mayor Chaudhary said.

Neeru Kharel, deputy mayor of Dhunibesi Municipality, Dhading noted that if one performed ones task assigned by the constitution properly, chances to suffer injustice would be rare but for that the female deputy mayors themselves and her party must be aware of the situation.

To Mayor Btashudev Ghimire of Tilottama Municipality Rupandehi, the Ghodaghodi case was the result of a long silent battle between the ego of the mayor and deputy mayor as it seemed to him that they had not coordinated with each other for a long time. The mayor and deputy mayor can easily work together. He gave the example of his own municipality and regretted that they couldn’t do so at Ghodaghodi. “But it has alerted all,” he told.

The incident at Ghodaghodi points at a problem that seeks a multidimensional approach for its solution. The people’s representatives have to learn to work in the federal system on one hand, and on the other hand, discard the age-old belief of male superiority and work together with the female members respecting their identity.