ILAM-After the police detained two Limbuwan Mukti Morcha workers on charges of forcing 'donations' from people on the Mechi highway, the transport system came to a standstill for five days. The police arrested 30 more people from Ilam and Jhapa, while the Limbuwan state council vandalised a dozen vehicles for defying their strike.

The Limbuwan activists have made it compulsory for vehicles travelling on the Mechi highway to have 'Limbuwan state' imprinted on them, and some offices, including the Dharan municipality, now have boards in Limbu language. The increasing activities of Limbuwan activists in the eastern hills are likely to affect the CA polls. The Limbuwan state council has been calling for strikes demanding proportional election procedures and the establishment of a self-governing Limbuwan region.

Talks with the government have broken down three times without any resolution. The third round of talks was stopped when the government announced that provinces will only be announced after the polls. Since then the east has been under immense pressure.

The Limbuwan movement is led by Kumar Lingden and Sanjuhang Palungwa, who were expelled from the Janamukti Paty for speaking against the royal takeover. They established the Federal Democratic National Forum on 11 December 2005 but have not worked together since the establishment of the federal Limbuwan state council.

The Federal Democratic National Forum has been registered for the elections. General Secretary Lingden says, "We registered for the elections because we believe that talks can solve our problems. We want to solve the existing problems through the CA polls."

Although Palungwa and Lingden do not belong to the same party anymore, both have the same agenda and the same demands. They demand that the nine easternmost districts of the country be declared a Limbuwan state. While those associated with Palungwa have stopped forcing people to make 'donations' in the name of taxes until further notice, the Lingden activists still haven't changed their ways.