As the election approaches, the competition to offer ambitious incentives to voters has intensified. Looking at the manifestos made public by the parties and the assurances given by the candidates at various election rallies, it seems that their main goal is to win the election by luring voters into their dreams. 

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is promising to address the savers who have fallen prey to savings fraud in cooperatives and microfinance. The RSS has pledged to return the savings of small savers to address the criticism that its President Lamichhane is fighting cases of cooperative fraud and related money laundering and organized crime in five district courts including Kaski, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Parsa and Rupandehi. 

The RSS's manifesto states that a 'Unified Savings Security Fund' will be established and the savings of savers of crisis-hit institutions will be returned to their accounts within 100 days of the formation of the government. It has stated that its aim is not just to jail the cooperative directors, but rather to return the depositors' money, and has said that a policy of listening to them will be adopted, not by imprisonment. 

‘If the directors or management of cooperative financial institutions are ready to return the depositors' money and they have reliable resources and plans, we will pave the way for a legal settlement,’ the manifesto says. ‘In such a situation, we will give them the opportunity to mobilize their assets and recover their loans while staying outside the prison by setting a full guarantee and time limit for the return of savings.’

The Congress, the NCP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have expressed their commitment to investigate the assets of leaders who held public office after the restoration of democracy, to end corruption soon and to ensure good governance. But experts in the governance system say, ‘Ending institutional corruption is not a short-term slogan but a long-term process, for which the parties are not serious.’

The four major parties, Congress, UML, NCP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), are promising rapid economic growth, corruption-free governance, physical infrastructure such as roads and energy, and social infrastructure such as education and health. 

They have made commitments such as doubling the size of the economy and creating one million jobs during the term of the parliament (five years). 

Economists, infrastructure experts and political analysts say that none of these goals can be achieved without addressing issues such as structural reforms, availability of financial resources, a clear framework for implementation, good governance, bureaucracy and legal reforms. These are just political fantasies. ‘These manifestos are just cats tied up by the parties for election-style Shraddha,’ says political scientist Krishna Pokharel, ‘there is no point in that.’

The Congress has promised to increase the national economy, which is currently around Rs 6.1 trillion, to Rs 11.5 trillion. The current per capita income of about 1,400 dollars has been targeted to be increased to 2,500. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that it will go ahead of the Congress and increase the per capita income to 3,000 dollars and 100 trillion dollars (about 145 trillion rupees at current exchange rates). The UML has also promised to increase the per capita income to 100 trillion and 3,000 dollars in five years. 

The NCP has said that it aims to achieve an economic growth rate of more than 10 percent within five years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently projected that Nepal's economic growth rate will be limited to 3.5 percent this year. Consistently high economic growth rates are required to reach the target set by the NCP. ‘The high growth rate we achieved in the past was close to 8 percent, and we were not able to maintain that for more than one year,’ says economist Keshav Acharya. ‘A double-digit economic growth rate for five years is not possible with the current structure.’

Economist Acharya says that such economic growth is impossible with a structure that takes four to five years to issue a driving license and cannot even issue a national identity card on time. ‘Our parliament cannot make laws for years, the court cannot decide cases directly related to the economy for years,’ he says. ‘We can see how the state works by looking at the history of projects like Budhi Gandaki and Melamchi. How can such a government and mechanism make such progress?’

The Congress has promised to create 1.5 million jobs in five years and the UML has promised to create 500,000 jobs every year. The NCP has committed to adding 150,000 additional jobs every year and ensuring 500,000 jobs annually. In 2079, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the coordinator of the NCP (then Maoist), had also expressed a dream of creating 2 million jobs in 5 years. Dahal became Prime Minister immediately after the election. However, nothing worth mentioning has been done in terms of job creation.

The number of people entering the labor market annually is now about 500,000. The parties' announcements seem to be a superficial response to that figure. About 300,000 are going abroad for employment with new labor permits. In the context of high youth unemployment and the country's basic dependence on foreign employment, the slogan of creating jobs for 300,000 to 500,000 youth annually seems attractive. But labor market experts do not believe it. According to employment expert Yubaraj Basnet, employment will increase as a result of the extensive growth of the economy. He says, 'There is no possibility of a sudden increase in investment now. The parties' announcements seem very imaginary.'

Lawyer Kashiraj Dahal comments that the manifesto is being brought out only for electoral consumption. 'Our constitution itself is a manifesto. Who has stopped it from being implemented?' He says, 'The country has reached the bottom (110th out of 182) in the list of corrupt countries. Misrule and corruption continue. Has anything been done with past manifestos? What is the meaning of these ceremonial declarations?’

Another ambitious sector that the parties have promised to prioritize is hydropower. The Congress has announced that the country’s total installed capacity will be increased to at least 14,000 MW in five years. That means adding 10,000 MW to the current electricity production of about 4,000 MW. The Congress has also set an ambitious target of increasing the per capita electricity consumption from about 450 units to 750 units. 

The NCP has also set a target of adding 10,000 MW in five years. The UML has said that it will implement the 1,063 MW Upper Arun, 670 MW Dudhkoshi and 1,200 MW Budhi Gandaki projects. The UML manifesto also mentions that private power projects will be completed on time. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has announced that it will achieve 30,000 MW of installed capacity in the coming decade. It has said that it will adopt energy diplomacy with India and Bangladesh to promote energy exports and enter into bilateral and regional energy trade agreements.

Former Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Madhusudan Adhikari, says that the manifesto aims to make money by selling electricity, but that policy is not a proper plan. ‘It is not about selling,’ he says, ‘The rate at which electricity should be sold cannot cover the cost. Therefore, a policy should be brought to increase consumption.’

Former Secretary Adhikari says that despite having natural resources, there is no production and consumption capacity. ‘Electricity is not consumed by household consumption. Even now, not all the electricity generated during the rainy season has been consumed,’ he says, ‘There should be more production and its industrial consumption. The parties do not have a real promise to do so. The manifesto is overly ambitious.’

Economist Acharya says that the parties have promised to touch the moon but have not seriously thought about their sources. ‘The revenue has not been very encouraging for the past one and a half years. After the attack on the private sector, the confidence to invest has been lost. "There has been no grant," he says, "how can the target be achieved in such a situation?"

Stating that a report by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank a few years ago had estimated that the informal economy in Nepal was around 30 percent, economist Acharya said that its share may have increased to 50 percent now. "In such a situation, there is no opportunity to expand revenue collection," he said. 

Although the parties have made public their manifestos as a plan to transform the country, they have never clearly stated the financial resources, implementation plan, completion timeline, and indicators to evaluate progress. Candidates are also in the election fray by preparing separate commitment letters for their constituencies. Although they will focus on their legislative role after winning the election and entering parliament, they have also included small development plans in such commitment letters. 

Political parties and candidates used to share similar ambitious dreams in previous elections as well. They are not seen to have conducted a systematic review of how many such promises have been fulfilled and how many are still pending. 

UML had promised to operate ships and deliver gas to households through pipes in the 2074 elections. UML, which emerged as the first party in the elections, had run the government for three and a half years in alliance with the then Maoists (later united). But there was no effective initiative to fulfill the promise. That is why even now UML is ridiculed by making references to ships and gas to households.

When he was a candidate from Gorkha-2 in the 2079 elections, the then Maoist (currently CPN) chairman Dahal had claimed that the road connecting Mustang and Gorkha, the Budhi Gandaki project, would be completed during his tenure. Now he has left Gorkha-2 and reached Rukum East. There he is assuring that the 'model of socialism will start from Rukum East'.

When he was the mayor of Kathmandu, senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Balendra Shah tried to remove squatters on the banks of the Bagmati in Thapathali on 12 Mangsir 2079 with the force of the Metropolitan Police. But it was stopped after the squatters protested. He met the squatters of Jhapa-5 on 20th Magh and assured them that their problems would be resolved. He said that the move was made to protect the squatters on the banks of the Bagmati from floods and inundation.

In the 2079 elections, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Lamichhane had raised the issue of Nepali workers dying during foreign employment and urged them to vote for him to solve the problem. “It hurts my heart to see the queue of brothers returning to the box every day at the airport. Vote at the bell to change this scene,” he had said. During the election campaign, he had promised to create jobs in the country. After the election, he became the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister twice, but he did not take any initiative to fulfill his election promise.