The show has provided a public platform for the first time to marginalised members of the fragile democracy, who include women, the rural poor and Dalit communities.The first programme’s panel featured then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and was recorded in rural eastern Nepal, with an audience including traditionally marginalised voices such as farm workers and women. They raised their concerns and questioned the prime minister for over an hour.

A representative of the local indigenous community asked how leaders were going to protect against sexual violence. “In my village, women are being regularly raped,” she said. “Will a solution for violence against women have to wait until the elections for the constituent assembly?”It was the first time the Nepalese public been able to ask questions of their leader in such a forum.

Politician Rabindra Adhikari, a former Sajha Sawal panellist, admits it’s sometimes not an easy experience for panellists. “It can be difficult. We are speaking while looking at their faces, we can see the pain.” He says a question asked by an audience member is “a thousand times more powerful than when asked by a journalist”.
Since 2007, the programme has featured all of Nepal’s top political leaders, including every prime minister since the establishment of democracy in the country. Shows are recorded throughout the country to reflect ethnic, cultural and caste differences.