Mahanta Thakur, the madhesi politician who resigned from government, from parliament and from his Nepali Congress party last month to set up his own Tarai-Madhes Loktantrik Party, answered questions at a public hearing in Lahan this week. The event was part of the Sajha Sawal program provided by the BBC Nepali Service.

Jeevan Jha, Nawalparasi: You have been in powerful positions, but you never spoke a word about the tarai then. Why are you trying to project yourself as a saviour of the tarai now?
Mahanta Thakur: In our party's Jhapa convention, I had raised the issue of the under-representation of madhesis in state units, including the army. The prime minister admitted the weakness and had promised to rectify this.

Narayan Shrestha: But why did you have to set up a new party?
The madhes was burning. People were getting killed. I was elected as a madhesi leader. I couldn't just be a spectator anymore.

Sushil Sharma: You were a senior leader of a national party. Why did you choose to become leader of a regional party?
I object to the term regional. We are a national party. Our party will try to solve the problems of the madhes. And to say the madhesi problem is not a national problem is unfair. If even 10 percent of demands of the madhes were fulfilled, you wouldn't have seen the anger and resentment we are witnessing today.

Sushil Sharma: If yours is a national party, what is your roadmap for Nepal, not just madhes?
We have written it down in our mission statement. If you have any inputs, let us know, we will try to include them, if it is useful.

Sushil Sharma: You yourself were in a position to solve the tarai problems for last 15 years. You became the deputy speaker, you were information minister. Don't you have to take a part of the blame?
Whenever we tried to raise the madhesi issue, we were ignored. The issue of Nepal's territorial integrity was raised to silence us. The army is 100,000 strong but there are only 264 madhesis in it.

Sushil Sharma: So why didn't you form a new party then?
We were being extremely patient and hoping that our demands would be met. You come to a tipping point.

Sushil Sharma: Why did it have to be so close to elections?
You can't consult an astrologer about these things. It happens when one can't take it anymore.

Mishrilal Harijan: There is communal tension. How are you going to bring the two communities together?
I think we can have a dialogue and solve our problems rationally.

Bidya Choudari, Bardiya: You have claimed that you represent the entire tarai. How can you represent us tharus?
We have always talked about the total population of the tarai, 49 percent of Nepal. It includes tharus, janajatis and people of hill origin.

Rashagan Choudari, Bardiya: There is violence in the tarai. Don't you think it will overshadow the problems here?
We have formed a new party partly because of the violence. We hope to work together with other groups to stop it. After we announced the formation of our new party, the leaders of the armed groups congratulated us. We haven't really met them in person yet.

Sushil Sharma: There is a history of madhesi groups splintering again and again. How can you ensure that your party will be an exception?
You have seen us becoming many from one. You will now see us becoming one from many.