News Commentary: RSP dwarfs legacy parties in election; bigger the party, higher the hope

Narayan Prasad Ghimire/RSS

Kathmandu, March 11: The government led by Prime Minister Sushila Karki ultimately set the history with a successful conduct of the House of Representatives election on March 5. It was a flawless management of the government that ensured the landmark democratic exercise in a short preparation of six month. The Karki-led government evidently deserves accolade.

Flawless navigation

The HoR election held on the background of the September 2025 Gen Z movement has now given a constitutional and political exit to the nation, which was marked by uncertainty. The interim PM Karki and Home Minister Om Prasad Aryal finely credited to the guardianship of President Ramchandra Paudel for accomplishing the mission of HoR election.

Indeed, the role played by the Head of State remained significant to steer the country towards a democratic track by bringing all sides together after the installation of present government in the most difficult time. PM Karki reminded the devotion she and her Cabinet members had to the mission for its successful accomplishment. Similarly, the security agencies' robust action and coordination was equally laudable for the achievement. 

The political parties- both the legacy and the news ones- enthusiastically participated in the election, thereby renewing their ties to the people, whatever the result was. The performance of the Cabinet members worked effectively in this mission. Undoubtedly, the navigation of transition by the Karki government bears special importance in Nepal's political history. 

RSP tsunami 

Was the HoR election result a wave or more than this, a tsunami? Even the political pandits and observers are eating crow on the votes the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) got. Many used to project a hung parliament with no political parties' majority through this election. But, to most stupefaction, the RSP wave dwarfed the legacy parties. The tsunami has not only showed aggressive emergence of new political force but also questioned the relevance of the legacy parties like the Nepali Congress (NC), the CPN UML, the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) and posed existential crisis to the Madhes centric ones.

Out of total 165 first-past-the-post (FPTP) seats in the 275-member HoR, the lower house of federal parliament, the RSP led by Rabi Lamichhane and Balendra Shah (Balen) secured 125 seats. Under FPTP, RSP got victory in 125 constituencies, the Nepali Congress (NC) in 18 constituencies, the UML in 9, the NCP in 8, the Shram Sanskriti Party in 3, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) in one, and independent in one seat. The Madhes centric parties have been nil. Even in the proportional representation category of HoR election, the vote count near final showed RSP at top with wide margin.

The two major hotspots of this election were Jhapa constituency-5 and Sarlahi constituency-4. UML Chairman KP Oli was in Jhapa and NC President Gagan Kumar Thapa in Sarlahi. Neither Oli, a veteran communist leader nor Thapa, a revolutionary young leader in NC with fresh mandate in the party, got victory. They faced sheer debacles.

Senior leader of RSP, Balen routed Oli with wide margin- nearly 50,000. All other UML party officials Shankar Pokharel, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Bishnu Paudel, Raghubir Mahaseth and Lekhraj Bhatta met similar fate. NC's President Thapa experienced drubbing by Amaresh Singh, a RSP candidate. After their loss, both Oli and Thapa are facing severe criticisms and those within party are voicing for their resignation on moral ground. 

The for-and-against debate of resignation in case of Thapa, who brought the NC out of Sher Bahadur Deuba's clutch from the special general convention, is rife on social networks. Some are insisting him not to quit, arguing he became party chief on a special circumstance and the regular general convention was awaited, while some are reasoning moral ground for his ouster. 

The dim voices for Oli's exit in its National Congress are getting pronounced after utter loss. Such a sorry state of legacy parties has caused much despair to their loyals while galvanized euphoria to the new force.

Interestingly, NCP's coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' became able to escape the tsunami with his victory from Rukum, a place from where he had launched Maoist rebellion in 1996.

What are the reasons behind such wave and stupefaction? Although few media, after extensive field reporting pre-election, had indicated well the sweeping change of votes- mostly to the new party, the RSP, the urban commentators and analysts were insisting on projection of around 70 plus seats of RSP in FPTP.

Balen brand

Undoubtedly, Balen brand largely worked to elevate RSP to this status. The Rabi-Balen agreement to go for election in a united manner by projecting Balen as next prime minister created a positive atmosphere for the party, drawing national and international attention. 

The Nepalis in the country and abroad were influenced by the Balen wave. Balen had emerged rebellion against the established parties, which was given further boost with digital engagement. The challenges, courage and strategies he adopted to vent ire against and unseat the old ones was ardently supported by the youths. It was further emboldened through the Gen Z movement. Finally Balen's togetherness with Rabi and his party, RSP, institutionalized the Gen Z movement. 

Hope for better future

With such tsunami that swept the legacy parties and elevated the new one, RSP at top, people's expectation has grown higher. They have piled up hopes on Balen and Rabi for better Nepal. Time has come for them to deliver. The good governance and development they reiterated in their speech and manifesto should be ensured in practice. The public disenchantment to old parties led to RSP's elevation, so RSP should be mindful of not disheartening the voters.

Here, the new government should not forget those bitter days of Nepali politics and political parties, where confrontation within and among parties caused casualties to democratic system, derailed development and fueled instability. With this near two-thirds majority, all have hoped political stability and solid foundation for economic prosperity. Let's hope the overwhelming ballots to RSP would be utilized for betterment of Nepal and Nepalis.