As Nepal approaches the March 5 elections, political parties are actively campaigning on employment generation, economic growth, political stability, infrastructure development, education, health care, and climate resilience. Yet one foundational issue remains strikingly absent from their core commitments: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). This oversight is particularly concerning because access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a secondary development goal. It is a constitutional right. Nepal's WASH policy architecture looks complete on paper. The WAS Act 2022 (Hygiene is missing in both the Act and the Regulation), the WASH Policy 2024, and the WAS Regulation 2025 together provide an organised legal and institutional framework. The government's priority on WASH was reiterated by Nepal's Prime Minister at the Heads of State Initiative (HoSI) in Spain in June 2025. However, a review of election manifestos from the six major political parties reveals fragmented and inconsistent references to WASH. Some parties mention regulating deep boring in the Tarai. Others promise arsenic-free water in affected areas. Some claim providing safe drinking water and sanitation to the citizens in five years. Some have elaborate outlines on clean water clean life, including water source protection, and highlight the construction of storage tanks to reduce the daily burden of carrying water. Yet none of the manifestos have addressed WASH in its integrated form that connects water supply, sanitation, hygiene, climate resilience, and public health outcomes. Election manifestos are important institutional roadmaps for any political party. But in the manifestos leading to the March elections there seems to be a clear disconnect between what is being promised and what is documented. Although the parties were supposed to submit their election manifestos one day prior to the official campaigning on February 16, this was done only on February 21, weakening transparency and preparedness in policy articulation. The consequences of inadequate WASH services are measurable and immediate. Disease outbreak in Nepal during the monsoon has become normal, which is mostly linked to compromised water systems. The cholera and acute diarrheal disease outbreak in Birgunj in 2025 highlighted systemic weaknesses in water pipeline networks, as well as sewage contamination. These events are not isolated incidents but symptoms of structural gaps in safely managed services. The 2024 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey indicates that only about half of Nepal's population has access to safely managed drinking water services. Approximately one in five individuals lacks basic sanitation. Rural households and those in the lowest wealth quintiles face the greatest deprivation. Inequalities are also visible across provinces, particularly in hygiene access and menstrual health management facilities. Although Nepal was declared Open Defecation Free in 2019, the 2021 census shows a slippage of around 4.5 per cent. This regression underscores that infrastructure coverage alone is insufficient without sustained financing, monitoring, faecal sludge management, and aquifer protection. Without climate-resilient water infrastructure, groundwater regulation, wastewater management, and integrated urban planning, rapid urbanisation will exacerbate contamination risks and service inequities. But nothing of it is mentioned in any of the manifestos. WASH is deeply connected with education and gender equity. Inadequate sanitation facilities in schools increase absenteeism, particularly among young girls during menstruation. Poor hygiene conditions contribute to lower academic performance and early dropouts. Climate is another critical factor in WASH, which was demonstrated during the heavy rainfall and subsequent floods in 2024 (September) across Nepal. It caused the government a loss of Rs 46 billion. The floods damaged 1,639 water sanitation projects worth Rs 5.73 billion, impacting 500,000 households, or 2.5 million people. The drought in Madhes in 2025 is another example of the nexus between climate and WASH. WASH is an anchor for all these issues. The economic costs are also substantial. Achieving the SDG 6 goals by 2030 will require significant investment – the draft Sector Development Plan has estimated Rs 4,272 billion for the period 2024-43 to fill this gap. The budget of the Ministry of Water Supply for 2023/24 was Rs 42.2 billion, which is 0.8 per cent of GDP, and 2.4 per cent of the combined federal and provincial budget. Without explicit commitments made in any of the manifestos, Nepal faces a losing battle in closing the budget and implementation gaps required to achieve universal safely managed services. Universal access, and particularly the one house one tap programme, is not achieved by average national progress without addressing the last mile population. For any party forming the government, this should be the measure for paving the way to strategic thinking around targeted financing, institutional focus, signalling the reduction of inequality, preventing water-borne disease outbreaks, and ensuring there is no absenteeism due to inadequate sanitation and hygiene in schools. WASH is foundational to health security, educational continuity, climate resilience, and economic productivity. It reduces health care burdens, prevents disease outbreaks, supports girls' education, and strengthens disaster preparedness. As Nepal stands on the verge of an important governance transition, silence on WASH in election manifestos sends a discouraging signal. There is still an opportunity for course correction before the elections. Failing that, the incoming government must place WASH at the centre of national planning, budgeting, and accountability mechanisms. Rajouria is with WaterAid Nepal