Heirs prepare to strike back

Whatever social cohesion existed in Tarai-Madhesh, especially after the brutal suppression of the Madhesh Uprising in 2015, has begun to fragment further with the sudden and inexplicable spread of Hindutva politics.

Similarities between the late Tulsi Giri and Prime Minister Balendra Shah are striking. Both became heads of government in their mid-thirties. Their families were wealthy and highly regarded in the neighbourhood of Janakpur. The Giris are from Siraha and the Shahs from Mahottari, but, like most zamindars of the region, both families maintained a base in the spiritual capital of Mithila.