In an article published in the Kantipur daily on October 23, I had raised three main issues. Ethics and honesty are the main conditions in politics. If one has to choose between public opinion or policy in politics, policy is the main one. And a good politician should be able to make sacrifices while respecting public opinion and understanding the pace of time.

However, Nepal's politics today is estranged from all these aspects. According to political science experts, although all these are not sufficient conditions for doing politics, they are certainly necessary. 

When talking about the characteristics of a good ruler, the relevance of the 9 qualities of Maharaj Parikshit mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagwat is eternal. Spiritual thinking, truthfulness, sacrifice, humility, dedication to work, curiosity, compassion, self-control and tolerance are the main qualities of King Parikshit. A ruler with such qualities is necessary to increase the dignity of the nation and move the country forward on the path of progress. Only such a ruler can keep national unity intact. 

An example of how politicians who rise above personal interests can quickly guide the country is also evident from the progress made by India in the last ten years. Although India started economic liberalization in 1991, the economy was not able to gain momentum.

India achieved high economic growth in the years after Dr. Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister. During Narendra Modi's rule, India not only continued its high economic growth rate, but also made significant progress in structural reforms and infrastructure development. The main reasons for India's continuous economic growth of around seven percent in the last two decades are investment in infrastructure, development of an investment-friendly environment, and productivity growth. 

In the book 'Why Nations Fail', economists Darren Yasemglu and James Robinson have authentically presented the details that good governance and high economic growth are possible only from rulers who are free from corrupt practices. Our Puranas also mention the subject of both the ruler and the ruled going down in Kali Yuga due to hypocrisy, ostentation, and black money.

There is a memorable incident in the Bhagavad Gita. The kingdom of Maharaj Parikshit, the successor of the Pandavas, is run in a religious manner and no one is unhappy in the kingdom. One day, while King Parikshit is walking around, he sees a strong man beating a bull and a cow.

That moment is tragic for the king who realizes that no one is sad in his kingdom. He ties up the person who is eating the cow of the earth and the bull of religion and plans to slaughter him. When the person reveals that he is Kali, the king asks him to leave his kingdom. When Kali asks for a place to live, the king allocates four places for him: drinking, gambling, prostitution and violence. When Kali asks for another place that can accommodate all these evils, the king allocates gold for him. 

In today's context, that gold is money earned through wrong conduct. The story gives the message that those who rule should be able to ensure good governance in today's society, where morality and harmony are disappearing. 

As stated in Kautilya's Arthashastra, the welfare of the people should be the primary responsibility of the ruler. Kautilya writes, 'Prajasukhe Sukham Rajya: Prajaanam Cha Hitam. ‘Nātmaprīyam ṭiṃ raṇyaḥ prajanāṃ ṛ ṭiṃ ṭiṃ .’ That is, the interest of the people is the interest of the ruler and the ruler has no separate interest.

Yogi Adityanath has given an example that when a state is run by keeping good conduct, rule of law and public welfare at the center, changes can be felt in a short time. Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest population in India, has experienced an average annual economic growth of 6.9 percent in the last 7 years, excluding the year of Covid. According to ‘The Economist’, in the last three years, the economic growth of Uttar 

state is higher than the overall economic growth of India. Uttar Pradesh has embarked on the path of high economic growth due to infrastructure development, assured power supply, strong law and order and crime control. In Uttar Pradesh, there were 8,500 kilometers of highways in 2016, but now it has reached 12,000 kilometers.

In 2017, there were only 6 airports, but now the number has reached 18. Hundreds of criminals have been caught to ensure peace and security, and Yogi Adityanath has even earned the nickname ‘Bulldozer Baba’ for ordering bulldozers to be used on the property of criminals. The fact that even the Western media openly praises his personality has become a strange, but important topic in itself. 

The main problem of today's Nepali politics is the lack of honesty, sacrifice and morality. If it were not for the selfishness of politics and the rapid erosion of state institutions, the unthinkable events of Bhadra 23 and 24 would not have happened. The most important aspects for the development of an open society, liberal politics and a dynamic economy are training, education, conduct and discipline. It is assumed that the training of politicians and administrators will solve the problems of the state. 

How do our political parties train their cadres? How do political parties lead their followers, administrators and all sectors of society? These important issues determine the future path of the country. Making politics a means of social transformation or a tool for personal self-interest? This is the topic of today's debate. Making politics a means of development, change and reform or a vehicle for mob rule and brokering? This learning will determine the future path of law making, policy formulation and state governance. 

Amidst the complex and uncertain international situation, challenges have been added for countries like Nepal that have gone through political instability. Over the past two decades, the world has been moving towards an autocratic or liberal system of governance. After World War II, communism was spreading all over the world. With the end of the Cold War, there was a wave in favor of democratic governance and liberal economies around the world.

According to the ‘Varieties of Democracy Report-2025’, for the first time in the past 20 years, the number of countries adopting liberal governance has increased more than the number of countries adopting democratic governance worldwide. The report writes, ‘In 2024, the number of countries adopting democratic governance has reached 88 and the number of countries adopting liberal governance has reached 91.

Today, the number of countries with liberal democracies is only 29, while countries including Nepal are classified as electoral democracies. Three out of every four people in the world are under a liberal governance system and the population living under a liberal governance system has reached 72 percent. This is the highest number since 1978. Similarly, 45 countries around the world are now oriented towards a liberal system of governance.’ 

In this context, the world political system is moving towards uncertainty, and the future of Nepal’s political system is also uncertain. The main question is how both traditional and new types of parties will make democracy sustainable and address the latest concerns of the people. 

There are some issues that society expects from those involved in politics – promotion of good governance, creation of employment opportunities, ending the middleman rule, ensuring transparency, management of non-party local governments, fast and small government, and security of investment are common concerns and concerns. Indian poet Kumar Vishwas has written some 

A day ago, while addressing the birth centenary commemoration of the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India, he made an interesting statement – ​​If someone throws garbage in your house, Atal Bihari's generation taught us to clean it ourselves and not to care about the garbage thrower.

The current Prime Minister Modi's generation taught us to make the garbage thrower clean, while Yogi Adityanath's generation has taught us not only to make the garbage thrower clean the garbage, but also to punish those who throw garbage in other people's houses.' After the context of all three generations raised by Kavi Kumar, a natural question is: if the generation of BP Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and Manmohan Adhikari taught democracy and nationalism, what did the subsequent generation teach us, and what will the generation of today's budding politicians teach us?