This union has, however, invited criticism from some quarters. More than focussing on the dream of the Gen Z to remove corruption and create good governance, the leaders appear more interested in the conventional power division
The Gen Z movement has generated a new wave of changes in the political parties in Nepal. Consequently, it has brought the ever-squabbling Tarai-based parties together to form a Federal Democratic Front. Accordingly, Upendra Yadav, Mahantha Thakur, Rajendra Mahato, C K Raut, Resham Chowdhury, Brijesh Chandra Lal, and Hridayesh Tripathi, who led splinter political parties, have now joined the Front. Similarly, communist leaders like Prachanda, Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, and Bhim Rawal, to name a few, have created a new party outfit known as the Nepali Communist Party.
Furthermore, former Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai has announced the formation of a new Progressive Democratic Party following the essence of the Gen Z movement. He has reduced himself to an advisor's role in order to make room for budding youths to lead the country.
It has also led to the signing of the agreement between the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Balendra Shah, the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, and Kul Man Ghising, the Nepali messiah who ended the deadly load shedding, creating political ripples of the kind never seen before. The euphoria of the new generation, particularly the Gen Z, has almost touched the sky. Conversely, the old generation of politicians, marked by underperformance and allegedly corrupt practices, have their morale hitting rock bottom.
The polarisation of the oppressed sides mounting attacks against the marauders has its history going back to immemorial times. Ram entered into an agreement with the monkey army led by Sugriv to defeat Ravan in the battle after Ram's spouse Sita was hijacked. In fact, this was reciprocation on the part of Sugriv after Ram helped him kill his all-mighty brother, Bali, who had hijacked his wife. Similarly, Krishna joined hands with the tormented Pandav brothers to punish the erring Kauravs who tried to strip the daughter-in-law Druapadi in public albeit in vain, which culminated in all of them dying in the 18-day war.
In the seventies, in India, students had protested against the rampant corruption and the rise in prices. Indira Gandhi, who was portrayed as Goddess Durga after the victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that liberated Bangladesh, began showing dictatorial tendencies. After the protests peaked, she imposed an Emergency curtailing the democratic rights of the people. She introduced several measures, including the Family Planning campaign, as she thought that population increase was a deterrent to India's development. But unmarried and senior citizens were also the victims of this hastily conducted mass vasectomy operation. People demonstrated strongly, chanting 'Remove Indira, save genitalia'. Slums were also forcibly cleared sending many people under the open sky.
After the opposition grew exponentially, an election was declared. All the parties cobbled into one Janata Party, which defeated the Indira-led Congress, and formed a non-Congress government for the first time. But the Janata Party could not survive its full term, and Gandhi again returned.
It shows that the occurrence of a successful movement leads to a landslide victory for the triumphant forces and a crushing defeat to the vanquished ones. It has been proved by several movements and revolutions that have taken place in the past also in Nepal. After the people's revolution of 1950, the new forces led by the Nepali Congress (NC) registered a landslide victory against the Ranas. In the aftermath of the 1990 People's Movement, the NC secured a majority in the ensuing elections.
In the election of the Constituent Assembly held in 2008, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) obtained an overwhelming majority. The NC and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) were virtually routed in the elections. It is thus very likely that the new trinity of the RSP, Balendra Shah, and Kul Man Singh will repeat history, handing over a severe defeat, particularly to the NC and UML.
This union has, however, invited criticism from some quarters. More than focussing on the dream of the Gen Z which was about removing corruption from the national scene and the creating good governance, the leaders appear to be more interested in the conventional power division. Accordingly, it has been agreed that Rabi Lamichhane will be the president of the RSP, Kul Man the vice president, and Shah the prime ministerial candidate using the bell as the election symbol.
Something remotely similar was enacted in the 1999 election in the NC, following which Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was projected as the prime ministerial candidate. The NC had a majority win, and Bhattarai became the prime minister. But after barely a year at the helm, Bhattarai was forced to resign by the Girija Prasad Koirala group.
Similar can be the situation following the forthcoming election if the RSP-Shah-Ghising political tango brings about a clean sweep. Lamicchane may orchestrate political actions that will compel Shah to resign from the prime ministerial post. This will be much easier for Lamicchane as Shah is at the mercy of the RSP because all the party volunteers will back the former.
But it might as well be that the three leaders will work hand in glove and work for the betterment of the nation like the executive, judiciary, and legislature performing unitedly for the country. The corrupt and the culprits will be brought to book and the dream of the Gen Z to root out corruption from the country and establish good governance will materialise. If that happens then it will herald a new Nepal where its citizens will not have to go abroad for making a living, which has rendered the country a virtual senior citizens' home.