In the twenty-first century post-modern (post-modern), post-ideology (post-ideology) and post-truth (post-truth) era, the question of relevance and justification of political ideology, ideology, theory is a subject of debate and controversy among political scientists themselves. The American political scientist Daniel Bell, the author of the book 'The End of Ideology' published in 1960, expressed the idea of ​​the end of debate and ideology, and a new debate began.

In 1992, another American political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, in his well-known book 'The End of History', declared that communist ideology had been defeated and liberal democracy had won, creating a new wave. Now, a strong public opinion against the state, government, establishment, mainstream, centrist has been created globally, while it seems that extremist, populist, liberal, right-wing parties, trends and commentary are becoming dominant. 

Nepal's political parties seem to have an interdependent but conflicting relationship with their arguments, ideologies, and principles. On the one hand, parties and leaders have been making big, empty and abstract speeches based on popular political jargons such as liberalism, socialism, capitalism, Marxism, communism, democracy, and development. But on the other hand, all those ideologies, theories and policies for power have also been giving tilanjali.

Therefore, despite the glorious history of the democratic movement, mainstream parties such as Congress and UML are becoming weak and unpopular, while a sudden wave of new, extremist, populist and liberal characters, tendencies and parties has appeared. A natural question has arisen whether the basis and dimensions of party and idea formation have changed or mainstream parties have become irrelevant. In this article, there is an objective analysis about the relevance of ideology and ideology, the opportunities and challenges of party building and transformation in the context of national-international change. Why

theoretical-conceptual review? 

Until the end of the twentieth century, any party was built on a certain political philosophy, ideology, theory and class basis. Not only Nepal's Congress and Communists, but all parties, including Republicans and Democrats in America, Labor and Conservatives in Britain, BJP and Congress in India, are built on the same theoretical-ideological basis and process. But in the post-ideological era like the twenty-first century, the traditional method of party building has been broken down and new standards have been established.

Now, rather than arguments, ideology and theory, ideas, policies and programs are the main basis of party building. However, it is not the intention of the columnists to advocate and envision party and leadership without principles and ideas, but only to analyze them based on global trends and new trends in party building. Its conclusion is that the politics of principle, integrity and policy have not ended, but the era of delivery has just begun. 

The ideals, ideologies, principles of any party are not religious texts or holy mantras. They improve, update and develop according to the pace of society, the development of consciousness, the political-economic environment and the sentiments of the people. Because ideals, ideologies, principles are dynamic. Mobility is the main reason democracy and liberalism are enduring. Therefore, the principles, ideas and policies of the party should also be updated. If not updated, they are outdated (irrelevant). Like Bell's conclusion, politics has now shifted from the conflict of ideas and principles, debates and accusations to the direction of policies, plans and agendas, which is positive. 

The problems of the twenty-first century are more complex and challenging than those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. New topics, problems and challenges like sustainable and green development, environmental imbalance, economic inequality, climate change, temperature rise, unemployment, artificial intelligence, gig economy, digitization, immigration, urbanization have been created. Classical theory and policy are unlikely to solve these problems. If it is not transformed into policies and programs to solve the problems of the country and the people, there is no justification for empty theories and abstract ideologies.

People need a clear vision and a concrete roadmap to face these challenges of the twenty-first century rather than scriptures and principles, and a government that delivers. So now dynamic ideas and political parties have more relevance and future than classical theorists. Parties that follow a timely people-oriented policy are vibrant, popular and relevant. However, parties that fail to follow timely policy are unpopular, displaced by the people and consigned to the depths of history. Therefore, the ideas, principles and policies of any party should be modified, updated and developed from time to time.

ideology dynamic, party status quo 

Congress and Communist ideal men BP and Marx were dynamic and progressive but not status quo. But the Congress has been interpreting BP, the Communists as Marx and the Maoists as status quoists and fundamentalists and chanting BP, Marx and Mao like Gayatri mantras.

That's why mainstream parties like Congress, UML, Maoists have become status quo from a theoretical-ideological point of view. If it is to be developed as a dynamic, lively and relevant party according to the sentiments of the people, then it is necessary for the Congress to re-study (revisit) and reconsider or review (rethink) BP, UML, Marx and Maoists. Likewise, while continuing the ideology, ideals and fundamental principles of BP, Marx and Mao, it is inevitable to re-define or supplement them over time.

Marx envisioned a stateless, classless and exploitationless society i.e. communism. According to Marxism, the end of private property was a prerequisite for the establishment of a non-exploitative society. But so far communism has not been established and private property has not been abolished. This is a major failure of Marxism both politically and economically.

After the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the unification of East and West Germany, and the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, which had been in communist power for more than 70 years, it has been confirmed that Marxism and communist theory have failed. But in 1907, the Marxist Plekhanov pointed out the fundamental problems of Marxism in his book 'Fundamental Problem of Marxism'.

The communist system was established in China through armed people's war under the leadership of Mao. But the fact that the communist rule in China has survived is not because of Maoism, but only because of the liberal economic policy (capitalist in the words of the communists). It is inevitable that the communist parties of Nepal should absorb this reality. 

It is necessary to reconsider the economic policy and development model that has been followed so far by parties like Congress, UML, Maoist etc. The Congress-UML government's initiative to make some economic and governance reforms is positive. A strong government of Congress-UML should not only carry out general reforms, but also resolutely advance the process of second generation economic reforms.

It is no longer enough to have a history of glory and struggle. Not past-oriented, but future-oriented ideas, parties and leadership are the need of the day. People are not looking for a ruler, but a servant. They have sought good governance, not governance, and they have sought delivery, not government. A system that cannot become the people's way of life and a party that cannot deliver has no future. 

BP and Madan Bhandari's conceptual contribution 

BP Congress and Madan Bhandari reinterpreted the guiding principle of UML according to time and need and revitalized the principles and organization of the party. BP is not only the founder of the Congress in the year 2003, but also the ideological pioneer and theoretician. Freedom, civil supremacy, democracy, liberalism, pluralism, human development, progress, egalitarian society and social justice have been established by BP as the basic principles of the Congress.

Democratic socialism is not the founding guiding principle of Congress. Embracing the then national-international economic and political scenario, it adopted democratic socialism as a guiding principle from the Birganj Congress held in 2012. Being a dynamic theorist, BP played a leading role in establishing democratic socialism as a guiding principle in the context of the time. 

BP himself has regretted in his autobiography that the desire to publish a concrete document with clear policies and programs suitable for Nepal after a more in-depth study of socialism was unfulfilled. Despite being a conservative society with a low level of political and social awareness, the Congress was established as a democratic, liberal, progressive and responsive party due to the theoretical and ideological leadership of the visionary BP who understood the speed of time and the sentiments of the people. Therefore, the foundation of democracy, pluralism, liberalism, constitutionalism and sovereign people in Nepal is because of BP, the strong theoretical, ideological and class foundation of Congress is because of BP. 

Madan Bhandari, the then General Secretary of CPN (Malay), played a historic role in democratizing the communist movement of Nepal. Re-defining the classical communist theory, he established the multi-party democracy of the people as a guiding principle. He abandoned the communist principle of seizing power through armed struggle and adopted a new principle of accepting a democratic and parliamentary system through force.

At that time, the leaders of the old generation and fundamentalists criticized sharply, accusing it of 'revisionist and parliamentary language'. But because the policies he established were relevant to the era, UML got a revival in the changed context. If Bhandari had not made a theoretical-ideological transformation, there was still a risk that the UML would become another extremist group like the Maoists.  A new method of building or rebuilding a

party  The main foundations of

party building are principles, ideas, organization and leadership. Until the 19th and 20th centuries, the leaders and activists went to the public with the principles, ideas and policies of the party. Organizations were organized on that basis, public opinion was obtained. Although the medium of communication of any party to the public was to some extent public media, it was basically only the leaders and workers. But now there is no possibility and no need to build a party through such a traditional method, process and style. Now, parties are formed by non-traditional methods rather than traditional ones. Therefore, first of all, an environment has been created to redefine the party building or reconstruction process itself. 

In today's digital age, the methods, processes and style of party building have fundamentally changed. Due to the development of educational level, awareness, information technology and social media, a new chapter of party building has started. The process of building a party based on the vision and public image of a visionary leader with a clear vision and concrete policies, plans, agendas and programs is evolving.

s can go directly to the public through mass media, social media and digital media. Now, through this process, the party, leadership and workers are directly communicating, interacting and exchanging ideas with the people. It has become the most effective and popular medium in terms of political communication and dialogue. 

A digital environment has been created in which a popular character can be established as a leader who can gain the support and cooperation of the public through direct communication through public media, social networks and digital platforms. Until recently, there was a practice and a process to reach or deliver a qualified leader who had a hold on the organization and had the trust of the leadership. But now, not only leaders and workers, but also people's trust, a new method and process of leadership development is being developed. Therefore, now the era of developing party based on policy, theory and agenda and leadership based on vision and image has started. This is a remarkable achievement in terms of party building and leadership development. 

It is no longer possible for only the leader-activist to effectively communicate the party's policies and programs to the people. Because the public image of the leader-activist is so negative that even if he comes with a positive message, people do not believe him. A situation is being created where ideas are formed and narratives are established through independent citizens, intellectuals and professionals, celebrities, social media 'influencers'. The social media department is becoming more powerful and influential than the organization department of the party. A new practice and strategy to win the election and weaken the competing party by managing the public media, digital media and social media has started. 

From the point of view of running the state, the people are sovereign, while the party's workers' sovereignty is also being established. It is inevitable to follow this new methodology and process not only for building a new party, but also for the reconstruction and transformation of the mainstream or old parties. If not, the chances of revival of the old or mainstream parties seem to be diminishing. 

The Education of Labor and Communist Party Transformation

Now in Britain, the Labor Party is more liberal and progressive than the Conservatives. But at some period of history, the Labor Party was ideologically conservative rather than conservative. The Labor Party was becoming irrelevant and unpopular, especially because of economic policy. But Tony Blair, a visionary leader who understood the changed national-international environment, fundamentally changed the traditional state-controlled economy policy and established a liberal and progressive economic policy.

Blair transformed Labor from a traditional democratic socialist to a social democratic party. From a theoretical-ideological point of view, Blair not only transformed classical Labor as 'New Labour', but also radically changed the party's organizational system. So Labor won the 1997 election with the popular vote. Because of the new economic policy and organizational system followed by Labor, Blair, who became prime minister three times in a row, took Britain's economy and international relations to new heights. 

After Mao's death in 1978, Deng Xiaoping came to power. Although a rigid communist regime established under the dictatorship of the proletariat, Deng Xiaoping played the epochal but risky role of timely redefining the guiding principles of the Chinese Communist Party. In particular, he was successful in establishing a liberal and open economic policy as a guiding principle, arguing that a state-controlled economy was not appropriate. Due to the policies established by Deng Xiaoping, China has been making significant leaps in terms of economic development. China is currently the second largest economy in the world and is projected to become the first economy in the near future. This theoretical-ideological transformation has become a historical milestone in the history of the Chinese Communist Party.  The need for

visionary leadership 

The problem of Nepal's party will not be solved only by transforming it from a theoretical-ideological and organizational point of view. Because the biggest problem is in leadership. Congress, UML, Maoists and other top leadership of the party have failed because they have been in the leadership of the party for a long time and failed to deliver even after getting many opportunities.

Due to widespread dissatisfaction, anger and disgust among the people towards such a failed leadership line, even that party is becoming unpopular. Without such a failed and unpopular leadership change, the chances of re-establishing people's trust in mainstream parties seem slim. The faster they get rid of such leadership, the faster these parties will be revived. If not, their future and justification will also be questioned.