It has a much bigger meaning than an era in politics, and I am using this word deliberately. Because the historical rise of the ‘scale’ in favor of the National Independent Party as the results of the election held three days ago are coming out has clearly indicated the end of an era in Nepali politics.

At this time when the old ‘powers’ of the country and a large number of people dependent on them are in shock with the election results, they may not have seen that the era has changed. But what has been clearly established is that by placing their hopes on Ravi Lamichhane, who is leading the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, and Balen (Balendra) Shah, who is presented as the prime ministerial candidate, the Nepali people have not only chosen a new leadership for the country, but Nepali society itself has made a big change. In this column, I will cover both the three main references and their theoretical explanations to explain how Nepal has entered a new political era through the mandate of the election.

First, let us look at the issue of Nepal’s democratic mainstream. Until three days ago, if someone in Nepal said that they were a 'Democrat', it meant that they were a member or supporter of the Nepali Congress. Because since the time they led the democratic movement in 2007, the Congress was known as the main democratic force in Nepal both inside and outside the country. It had already lost the elections to the CPN-UML in 2051 and the Maoists in 2064, but for the first time in its eight-decade history, the Congress has now lost that title. Because a democratic force greater than it has never existed before. Since its establishment, it has become the smallest in its entire life.
Okay, it remains to be seen what the democratic conduct and style of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Balen Shah will be like after they come to the leadership of the government. However, looking at their ideological documents, there is not much difference in the approach to democracy and liberal economic policy of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Congress. Therefore, if someone now calls himself a 'Democrat', it is not known whether he is the Congress or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

That is, the Congress is no longer an undisputed democratic force. Whether or not the Congress can make a ‘comeback’ in two to four years or how it can do so is not the subject of today’s article. However, let me say this much right now – if it is to start, it should start with a ‘departure’ from BP Koirala’s explanation of what the four stars of its four-star flag represent.

Now, saying that one star is for democracy and the other for socialism has become an old issue that the new generation of society does not care about or care about. It is no longer the only one to save democracy, and although the attempt to get rid of socialism has been delayed, it has already made an attempt through its own election manifesto. In the long history of the country, the displacement of the Congress as the democratic institution of Nepal within a decade of the new constitution is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. If this situation changes after five years, then it will be reviewed again, but this is the theoretical explanation for it for now.

The second major ‘paradigm shift’ brought about by this election is even more interesting and significant. In Nepal’s first election in 2015, the left had only a nominal presence. But since the 2020s, when King Mahendra imposed an authoritarian regime in 2017, leftist organizations and ‘public awareness’ have grown rapidly in Nepal.

Since political parties were banned, it was only in the 2048 elections that we knew whose power was so great, when the CPN-UML and Janamorcha emerged as strong opposition parties. But based on the ideological trends and organizational strength of the society, the left in Nepal had become the second largest political force since the 2030s.

In addition, due to the organizational impact of the Maoist armed conflict that began in the 2050s, by the time we reached the Constituent Assembly of 2064, the left had become the largest political force in Nepal, which remained uninterrupted until the parliament was dissolved six months ago. Combining all this scenario with the mandate of the 21 Falgun election, historically speaking, this is the first time since the early decade of 2020 that the Nepali left has shrunk to such a small size.

Although it can be expected that this is the end of the Nepali leftist era, it may be a bit 'premature' to make a prediction, because in a society like ours, it is not possible to say that there is no possibility of its 'comeback' right now. But what can be said with certainty is that the right-wing leftist era led by KP Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, as practiced in the past two decades, has ended with this election. There is no room in today's column to explain this incident much. Let's just say that the mainstream leftist movement in Nepal represented by Oli had actually become rightist. It sounds more accurate than in English, 'Nepal's Left is Right'.

As far as what Prachanda represents, perhaps he himself does not care. It should be noted here that in the process of forming a front to prepare for the elections, Prachanda quietly dismissed the original Maoist Party of Nepal and it no longer exists. Yes, there may be some room in the future for a ‘decent left’ politics that understands and speaks a more modern language than the Cold War era, such as that which sometimes emerges in some countries in South America or Europe, but the era when the main political force in the country was the left is now over. As influential permanent guests, 2082 has formally bid farewell to Karl Marx and Mao from Nepal. As tourists, they will continue to come and go, and will be able to do so.

Now let’s look at the third important ‘departure’ taken by Nepali society through this election, which I am even more excited about. As regular or occasional readers of the columnist in this ‘space’ of Kantipur may recall, in recent months I had written more than once about how ancient, Cold War-era and empty the vocabulary used by the established political parties and classes of Nepal is.

In addition, in another column, what I raised was that there are three myths established in the public sphere of Nepal that need to be debunked. The first of them was that the old political and social classes of Nepal have been saying for decades that ‘Nepal’s geopolitics is in a very sensitive state’. My challenge was that this understanding and ‘narrative’ is not only flawed, but also fatal.

The 2082 elections have consigned the Cold War-era leftist vocabulary and the now irrelevant BP-era political-geopolitical interpretation of the Congress to history. Because I am not saying that most of the MPs who have been elected now are only more learned and better than the previous ones, but they do not think in the jargon of those who have passed away. The vocabulary that is dominant in politics shows how society thinks. In that regard, the vocabulary of those who are affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and win the election seems to be according to the new generation.

Why is this aspect important? Rightly or wrongly, it represents a changed era in politics. The government is yet to be formed under Balen's leadership, and the governance style of the RSS as a party with a two-thirds majority is yet to be seen.

But listening to the issues they have spoken about so far will free them from the error of blaming geopolitics for every failure. Or, at least, it can be hoped that since their political practice and culture are not very long, they are free from the mentality of seeing only 'geopolitical sensitivity' everywhere this fortnight.
In that sense, not only because the old political organizations have shrunk and become smaller through elections, but also because a generation that has been dancing together since the 2050s, with the exception of one generation, has disappeared from politics, and these myths that need to be destroyed have entered a direction where politics can be destroyed. This election has answered the question of how Nepal's hypocritical left, which is irreparably corrupted and is itself a major party in the name of opposing crony capitalism, will be sidelined through the 'ballot'.

The future has become a new environment of competition between at least two parties within the democratic spectrum. The disappearance of an entire political generation from the scenario has a great meaning for change. There are references to the era of Madhesh parties as regional powers, and the fact that the old ones are all bad, and the supporters of the monarchy, who tried to return to the level, even if they were weak, were defeated through an electoral referendum.

The new era of politics has already begun, but on this occasion when history has turned its back, many are curious and have questions about how the Balen-led RSVP government will begin the country's journey towards prosperity. There is also a concern that the RSVP will have the will and ability to fulfill such great expectations of the Nepali people, who have been suffering from misrule, for good governance, and whether despair will soon return to society. The difference in opinion between many representatives of the RSVP who will win the direct election and the second-place candidate is so great that it only shows how angry the people are with the old parties, how much resentment there is in society.

Those who had cursed the Gen-G rebellion until now as a foreign conspiracy and 'geopolitical maneuver' must have also seen why that rebellion took place and how the people were eager to carry out such a big democratic 'conspiracy' against them all at once through elections.

On the one hand, all this is anger towards the old. Along with this, it is certainly hoped that Balen Shah and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will ‘do it’. So far, Balen and Ravi have not had to say much about how they will do this to take the country on the desired path. They said that if you and the country are in this situation because of the old people, the people approved it.

They said that we will come, and then we will fix everything, the people believed it. The columnist must have asked, and many others must have said, that those who are coming on the back of the old people’s failures are just ‘populists’? Those who have words to abuse others but do not have much ‘content’ about how to change the country.

But at this time when such a huge historical mandate has been expressed, those questions are not very relevant.

Even though he was affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the eve of the elections, this moment when the country is getting a 35-year-old youth, a person who is not a political organization, a person who has such high hopes from the large youth of the society and all other generations and the Nepali diaspora, without amending the constitution, as if he were directly elected as the Prime Minister is truly unprecedented. In the days to come, if weaknesses start to be seen after the government is formed and it starts working, if actions are seen or intentions are revealed to thwart democratic practices, if arrogance and arrogance like those of the rulers who had two-thirds of the vote start to appear, then it will be time to criticize it. However, this festive moment of public joy is a time of hope for the society.