Meet Poll Pledge

Parmeshwar Devkota 

When Nepal Communist Party was enjoying two-thirds majority in the federal parliament, it coined a slogan, ‘Samriddha Nepal, Sukhi Nepali’ (Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali). 

The word 'prosperous' denotes a wealthy, prosperous and well-off life. In reality, Nepal is not affluent, and will not be so until the leftist leaders of this country do not change their working style and behaviour. 

The leftist movement considers human society as class-based society. Commonly, there remain upper, upper middle, middle and lower classes. In theory, rightist parties – like Nepali Congress, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Swatantra Party – represent the upper and upper middle class, whereas, the leftist parties – like CPN (Unified Socialist), CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN-UML, Janamorcha and Workers Peasant Party – claim that they work for the middle class, lower middle class and working class people. 

If it is the case, two words – 'need' and 'want' should be taken into consideration. The word ‘need’ implies basic needs of a person which include food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education and security. Until and unless the whole middle class, lower middle class and working class Nepali people meet those needs, the state is not considered fulfilling its duties, responsibilities and obligations. 

That's because the present constitution has provisioned the obligations of the state in the Part 4. The constitution vows to meet the needs of the people but it has not mentioned to meet the wants of a citizen anywhere, because wants of the person can vary from person to person. And, limitless wants cannot be met.  

The nation's realities do not enable the people to be prosperous and happy. The parameter is that the people who earn below US$2 a day fall into below poverty line. 

The Economic Survey 2022/23 has shown that over 15 per cent population is below poverty line. It means about 4.5 million people have to struggle for two-time meals and are deprived of the basic amenities. 

This is the unfortunate state of the Nepali people.  All political parties know the reality, but they give hollow promises to the people. 

The economic condition of a person determines his/her status in the society. If the leftist parties fail to uplift working class people and deceive the voters every time, they must be voted out.  

Interesting of all things is that the CPN (Unified Socialist) and CPN (Maoist Centre) held their statute convention with fanfare but they did not seriously debated the very popular slogan -‘Samriddha Nepal, Sukhi Nepali’. They rather approved it without evaluating how far the slogan has gone in people's life. It shows how flippant our leaders are.

So, it is the right time to warn the political parties and leaders who betray their electoral pledges because of which the people vote for them, hoping for a better and secure future. If the political parties and their leaders let down their well-wishers, the voters have every right to give them a bloody nose in the polls.