–Guheshwariraj Manandhar (93 years old) Makhan, Kathmandu

I have seen all the political changes in Nepal with my own eyes . I have had the opportunity to see all the elections held in Nepal from close quarters . In that sense, I have been lucky . I have participated in all the elections that have been held so far, especially the parliamentary elections. I will also participate in the upcoming elections, let's see how much my health will support me . I am also excited about the elections in a way .

Voting is the opportunity through which the common people exercise their sovereign rights . Even one vote of anyone has great importance . I am now 93 years old, I was born four months before the great earthquake of 1990 . Our ancestral home is right behind the Kumarighar in Kathmandu, it is called Gwachhemugah Gali . I was born and raised there . I studied at JP School. I started studying at the age of five, during my time this school was in Makhan.

JP was one of the most famous schools of that time. I did my SLC from there – in 2004. I had all my school education there. I must have been only 14 when I did my SLC. The results were published in the Gazette with my name. In that sense, I also know about the political events of 2007 and still remember them. When King Tribhuvan came to Kathmandu by plane from India during the political changes at that time, I reached the airport myself.

By then, political awareness had begun in me, although I did not actively participate in it. I still remember scattering political leaflets from the plane at that time. There was a wave of social movements towards the end of the Rana regime. The aim of the Rana was to prevent the people from becoming conscious as much as possible. The people, without caring about it, would open schools at every corner, secretly leaving pamphlets and distributing them .

Constituent Assembly: Mother of Federalism, Basis of Inclusivity

Gradually, the wave of publishing newspapers also started . There was a revolutionary fervor among the youth . At that time, a newspaper called ‘Dharmodaya’ was published in Nepali, that too from Calcutta . After LLC, I did my ISC from Trichandra College and went to Dhanbad, India to study mining . I did my engineering at the famous ‘Indian School of Mining’ in Dhanbad, Bihar . Now that university has also become . At that time, it was a very long journey to reach Patna from Kathmandu .

While studying there, my interest in politics continued. I think that until the 2015 parliamentary elections, at least in inner Kathmandu, there was political awareness among many. Many people were interested in politics and could express their opinions. I think this applies especially to the younger generation. As far as I remember, there were many political parties at that time, but there were mainly two groups on our side. One was the Congress. The other was the Communists.

In our area of ​​Kathmandu, Ganeshman Singh was the Congress candidate, while Pushpalal Shrestha was the Communist. Pushpalal was the brother of martyr Gangalal. I remember well that Gangalal and others were martyred at that time because I saw and heard about the 2007 revolution. However, I did not have a personal relationship with him because Pushpalal mostly lived outside Kathmandu. I have met Ganeshman Singh personally.

The election campaign at that time was very different and in a different way than it is now, which was natural. I think that the biggest medium of election campaign at that time was based on conversations with each other. Information about the election and the candidates was also obtained by telling each other. This process continued for a long time.

Political gatherings and public meetings were also held. But I still think that at that time political awareness and campaigning were based on conversations. I had voted for the Congress in the first parliamentary election, as far as I remember, Ganeshman Singh won. But, Pushpalal also received a good number of votes. I was a young man of 25 years, at that time. Our polling station was in Basantapur. In that sense, Basantapur also has historical political importance.

After the election results, the Congress government was formed, BP Koirala also became the Prime Minister. I have personally met King Mahendra and then King Birendra. After the first parliamentary elections, I went to America for further studies. When King Mahendra took power in 2017, I was on my way back to Nepal from America. At that time, I was in a hotel in Washington.

When I found out that I was Nepali, a person at the hotel told me that the king had taken all the power by removing the BP government. I could not believe it. What I thought was that the Congress government had a two-thirds majority, how could this be possible? Seeing my disbelief, the American showed me a magazine. I do not remember the name of the magazine. But, it said, the king took all the power into our hands. I was surprised.

I returned to Kathmandu a week after that incident. My office was inside Singha Durbar. When I returned to Kathmandu for the first time, I had to go through a long process to enter the office. I can say that I have actively participated in all the elections that have been held since then. I had moved to Kuleshwor Balkhu's house since 2027 and since then my polling station has been moved to a nearby food institution.

During this time, I saw many ups and downs in Nepali politics. I was more active in the social sector than politics. I joined the Dharmadaya Sabha. Similarly, I became associated with Chavasa Pasa. During this time, I also took forward my literary journey. I also wrote stories and poems in Nepali language. I also launched a magazine called 'Pasa', becoming its managing editor. In that sense, I also did journalism knowingly and unknowingly in Nepal Sambat 1073. This happened, more than seven decades ago. Later, I also started translating Buddhist books.