Bardiya, Feb. 25 -- In the freed Kamaiya's (bonded labourer) settlement on the edge of the forest under the Cotton Development Board area in Bijayanagar of Barbardiya Rural Municipality, Bardiya, most houses are roofed with thatch, sprinkled amid a few structures of brick and cement. The concrete houses appear to be recently built while the thatched dwellings have clearly weathered the years.

On the rooftops of both old thatched homes and new concrete buildings, signs of the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5 are unmistakable-party flags bearing electoral symbols flutter in the breeze. On some houses, as many as four different party flags have been tied to a single roof.

One thatched house displayed the flags of the...