‘Grandfather Prachanda, Where Are You?’ 15-Year-Old Sadiksha Questions Leader Over Broken Bridge

Dragon Media Correspondent

A video made by 15-year-old Sadiksha Oli of Chunbang in Bhume Rural Municipality-9, Rukum East, addressing former prime minister and Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” while showing a damaged bridge has drawn widespread attention on social media.

Sadiksha posted the video on Facebook on Sunday evening, highlighting the difficulties faced by local residents after a bridge over the Domai Khola in Chunbang collapsed. Within 48 hours, the video had been viewed more than 1.3 million times, attracting over 100,000 reactions and thousands of comments.

“Hello! Grandfather Prachanda, where are you? You won the election from Rukum East and then left. Look at the condition of our bridge. It is broken, so we have to cross through the stream. The water could sweep away cattle, and it could sweep us away too. Children also use this route to go to school. They could also be swept away. That is why this bridge needs to be built,” she says in the video.

According to Sadiksha, the bridge near her village collapsed around two months ago and has yet to be repaired. She said the danger increases during the monsoon when the water level rises, particularly for local residents and schoolchildren who regularly use the route.

The bridge is used by local people travelling towards the ward office, schools and the district headquarters. Since its collapse, residents have been forced to cross the stream directly.

Sadiksha, a resident of Bhume Rural Municipality-9, is a Grade 10 student at Nepal National Secondary School in Gairigaun, around an hour’s walk from her village.

She began making social media videos about a month ago, documenting village life, livestock farming and the local environment with a mobile phone and, at times, a drone belonging to her elder brother Sandip. Her social media accounts have since attracted thousands of followers.

Sadiksha said she had not expected the bridge video to receive such widespread attention. Her intention, she said, was simply to bring a problem faced by her community to the attention of those responsible for addressing it.

She said she had seen Prachanda in the area during the election campaign and decided to address him directly because he had been elected to the House of Representatives from Rukum East in the March 2026 election.

The viral video has since brought the condition of the Domai Khola bridge and the risks faced by local residents during the rainy season into wider public discussion.

Through a simple social media video, the 15-year-old student has drawn attention to a local infrastructure problem while increasing pressure on elected representatives and relevant government agencies to respond before a serious accident occurs.