KATHMANDU, APRIL 25

Rastriya Swatantra Party which had won 20 out of 275 House of Representatives seats in the last parliamentary elections continued to make political inroads in the country with victory in Chitwan-2 and Tanahun-1 constituencies in the by-elections. It won with huge margin. Counting of votes in Bara-2 constituency is under way.

RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane who had won Chitwan-2 has won again from the same constituency and economist Swarnim Wagle, who had joined the RSP only days before filing his nomination paper also won with a margin of more than 14,000 votes in his maiden attempt.

Lamichhane won with a huge margin of more than 40,000 votes. The RSP now has Tanahun-1 seat in its parliamentary seats tally.

The RSP victory in Tanahun-1 is significant for the party as it was a constituency from where senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel, who was recently elected president, had won the last parliamentary election.

RSP's electoral victory reflects people's frustration with the traditional political forces, mainly the big three parties - Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre.

Political analysts say people's vote for the RSP reflects their belief that the party will be different from the traditional forces and will deliver on its poll pledges.

Political analyst Bijay Mishra said the victory of RSP candidates had given the message to the big three parties that they would have to change their style of functioning and they needed to stop issuing tickets to their favourites.

Rabi Lamichhane's television journalism helped him gain popularity among migrant Nepali workers working in foreign countries who phoned their families back home and solicited votes for Lamichhane, Mishra said.

The RSP has, however, failed to make inroads in Madhes.

RSP has not won any parliamentary seat in the core Madhes constituency and the Madhesis that represent the RSP in the HoR are not typical Madhesis, says political analyst Bijay Mishra.

Madhesis that represent the RSP in the Parliament are elites that's why the RSP does not enjoy popular support among the Madhesi electorate, Mishra argued.

Another political analyst Jay Nishant said that in the face of Dhaka Kumar Shrestha's alleged bribery audio tape and Lamichhane's citizenship and passport controversy people had begun to view the RSP as no different from other parties.

However, Swarnim Wagle's entry into the party played the role of rescuer as people wanted to give chance to Wagle who had done a somewhat better job as vice-chairman of National Planning Commission. Nishant said the RSP made political inroads mainly because it fielded fresh, young, educated and untested candidates which appealed to voters who wanted to give them a chance rather than vote repeatedly for the same tested and failed leaders.

Columnist Shankar Tiwari said that the rise of RSP was the reflection of a global trend wherein economic deprivation fuelled populism, and those who wanted to cash in on populism benefited. He also said that migrant workers also solicited votes for RSP. The RSP, however, needs to do a lot more to attract voters in Madhes districts. Nishant says Madhesi voters view the RSP as an anti-federal force. Besides, the RSP has not made its stance clear on inclusion, and at present the party remains dominated by the upper caste hill people, Nishant argued.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 26, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.