Political metamorphosis of contemporary Nepal – The Hindu

Like many commentators, we chose not to reflect on the Gen Z protest  that took place in Kathmandu during September 2025, considering  the protest as a momentary event which will fade away as time  passed.  

The abrupt changes that were brought to the fore on the pretext of  Gen Z movement—like discrediting of existing party system completely,  physical assaults on senior party leaders, destruction of government offices  including Parliament, Judiciary, Provincial Assembly buildings, besides  various ministry buildings, and police stations—were so shocking that all  those who knew Nepal has a long experience of absorbing ‘revolutions’ in the past, found these changes outrageous and detrimental to a healthy  democratic system.  

This article is a part of The Hindu’s e-book: Nepal’s new political moment

However, seeing the results of recently held General Elections of Nepal,  we felt that the situation deserves to be reviewed before it is too late,  as those who set the Gen Z wave have now turned to power depending  upon a recently formed political party known as Rastriya Swatantra Party  (RSP emerged as a political party during June, 2022), which partnered  not only in the formation of Prachanda-led coalition government during  2022 and 2024 but many of its members, including the party president,  held positions in cabinet ministries as well. For better or worse, the  outrage against party based democratic system soon dissipated and the  charismatic rise of Gen Z protestors found faith in the system that they  themselves have vilified only a few months earlier.  

The election results gave a clear indication that the traditional political  parties had lost touch with their base and there was a need for them to  start afresh. Is Nepali politics witnessing some new ways of organising and mobilising the mass – a new democratic aptitude so to say? This chapter  precisely focusses on similar questions and attempts to reflect on the  changing mode of political mobilisation, leadership, organising methods  and the modes of political communication in Nepal in the context of recent  changes that the country has witnessed.  

Nepali Party Politics: The Old Vanguard  

Traditional party system in Nepal revolved around a robust party  machinery which organised people around certain political ideologies.  These ideologies ranged from social democracy advocated by Nepali  Congress to different forms of communist leanings. For instance, the  Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) advocated for  improved version of communist philosophy which they termed as ‘Peoples  Multiparty Democracy’ and reached a conclusion in the early 1990s that  the orthodox way of communist party ideology is not adequate and thus  the advocacy for parliamentary competitive politics.  

A protester wearing flak jacket and carrying a shield snatched from a policeman shouts slogans at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal’s government’s various ministries and offices during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu. 
| Photo Credit:
AP

Likewise, the erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which has  split into numerous factions with differing versions of their interpretations  of the Maoist and other communist philosophies had mobilised the masses,  rather successfully, to secure power through decade long armed struggle  against the state. In addition to these parties, there were number of political  parties advocating for the rights of the marginalised groups.  

Rise of Madhes  

The most prominent among them, from electoral perspectives, were  those championing the cause of Madhesi ethnicity. Madhes refers to the  entire southern plains of Nepal (surpassing the territories of Madhes, the  tiniest province of federal Nepal) and the struggle for political and cultural  recognition of Madhesis—the non-hill, non-Nepali speaking ethnic groups  of the plain—has been ongoing for the last seven decades. The parties  advocating the rights of the Madhesis had made significant gains in the  first Constituent Assembly in 2008 and remained a major political force  during subsequent periods. Even in the recent General Election held on  5th March 2026, the entire Madhes region seems to appear as RSP vote  bank. While the party president was elected from Chitwan, a district of  Bagmati province that falls within geographical Madhes, and the rapper  turned politician Balendra Shah (having family roots in the Mahottari  district of Madhesh Province) ensured a landslide victory from Jhapa–5  constituency over K. P. Oli, the former four-time Prime Minister.  

Vertical Mode of Political Mobilisation 

The mode of organising the people for these political parties was  the same. They would build their party structure from the lowest  administrative tier in the country—the ward level—to the highest one,  the center (Kathmandu). They would propagate their ideas, agendas and  ideologies through closed door meetings, party conventions and through  public meetings and rallies. Therefore, they were adopting the vertical  mode of political mobilisation.  

Ideological Shaping of Parties 

To add to this, one needs to pay attention on the ideological front  too. Important here is to note that the Communist Party of Nepal and the  Nepali Congress both were established in then Calcutta (now Kolkata), India during 1949 and 1950 and were inspired by the Indian nationalist  movement and decolonisation. Most of these parties, barring the ethnic  ones, were originating during pro-democracy movement of 1951 that  parallelled the cold war period as well. Besides decolonisation, and  nationalist movement in the neighbourhood, party politics in Nepal was  also influenced by the Cold War politics. Both the Nepali Congress and the  Communist parties were under the spell of different forms of socialism  and communism during this period of time. Therefore, ideological  formation of political parties in Nepal, during their formative years, were  largely shaped by the outcomes of what was happening outside Nepal.  

Panchayat Era 

It is also to be considered that these political parties in Nepal were  banned for a large part of the cold war period (1960-1990) as the country was  firmly ruled by the then absolute monarch under a party-less system called  Panchayat. Therefore, these parties functioned mainly as oppositional  groups to the state and the monarchic system during that period. They  come of age in 1990, when the multi-party system was restored. But again,  the global politics has undergone seismic shift with the collapse of the  Soviet Union and the emergence of a unipolar world led by the Americans.  Therefore, when these parties, matured during the Cold War era, came  to power, they had to face the challenge posed by the neoliberal order  then firmly in place. It was a period when their ideological moorings were  sternly met by new global forces challenging them head on. 

Domestic Conditions 

Not only did the change in global politics impact the Nepali politics,  but significant changes at the domestic front were also felt. As a matter  of fact, Nepali state had been a feudal, agrarian and centralising one for a  long period of time, hence residues and effects of some of these attributes  got unsurprisingly reflected during the period of open, competitive,  parliamentary politics. The party structures resonated the feudal order,  where the political party increasingly came to control the public life. The  party, in turn, was captured by a select group of leaders.  

The party system evolved in ways that was increasingly seen as  undemocratic. The most notable part of it being the ‘partyfication’ of public life. The political parties, through their sister wings, controlled  public institutions ranging from government bureaucracy to universities  and other public institutions, thereby constricting meaningful  participation in public life for citizens. They also created new feudal  order by building new patron-client relationships. The political parties  demanded absolute loyalty in return for what they called ‘Bikas Kendrit  Rajniti’ (development-oriented politics). In this, they would seek renewal  of their mandate by taking development projects to their constituencies.  This approach made sense for initial period after 1990 as the mass  participation in public governance increased. But, continuing this very  approach some three decades later meant that the parties were only  seeking to benefit out of the interest they may have acquired for works  done decades ago.  

Challenges to the Old Vanguard 

The later years of 1990s not only saw change in the political arena,  but also on the social, cultural and economic front. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the demographic change, along with new economic  opportunities both at home and abroad and the changed cultural landscape  brought in by digital connectivity and the internet had a profound impact  on the way a new generation socialised themselves.   

Protesters celebrate at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal’s government’s various ministries and offices, after it was set on fire during a protest against a social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu. 
| Photo Credit:
AP

Even as the foregoing section described the change in the political  system through the re-introduction of the party system, their ways of  conducting politics was increasingly turning them into a hegemonic force  from that of resistance (considering their ‘underground’ years). Therefore,  the traditional way of doing politics was increasingly coming under  pressure especially with the new millennium setting in. Rise of the middle class ordained that the forces and processes of globalisation were shaping  not only the social and cultural moorings, but were also impacting the ways  in which politics was being imagined.  

Networked Society 

The access of internet to the general public in the early 2000s destined  that a new generation would grow up with the world open to them because  of internet connection. This growth meant that the Nepali population  was increasingly becoming part of the ‘networked society’, which was  exacerbated by the coming of tech giants like Facebook (now known as  Meta). This in turn also created a generation that was hyper-connected.  

Autonomous Spaces 

From an economic point of view, the period after 1990s also opened up  new economic avenues in Nepal, especially in the service sector. Therefore,  in comparison to the previous period, where state employment was  preferred, now the new cohorts increasingly entered the private sector. This  meant that, although the political parties were controlling public spaces,  individuals were now carving out spaces autonomous of the parties. To add  to this, there was a significant development which impacted the expansion  of the political parties. The parties had benefited from the student politics  in the public universities, even during the banned Panchayat period. But,  the expansion of private colleges meant that in next decade and half after  1990, political parties could not find steady base of cadres as these colleges  discouraged opening of party-affiliated student bodies in their campuses.

Rap Songs – The New Avatar of Democratic Reasoning The situation was compounded when the Gen Zs came of age. These  were digital-native netizens who had enjoyed significant autonomy in their  social life and were hyper connected. But they could not connect with  the political leadership that had been in place since their parent’s times  or at times even earlier. This leadership communicated in a language that  was unintelligible to this young and significant section of the population.  To no one’s surprise the leadership, continued to rely upon conventional  hierarchical (vertical) mode of mobilisation and consequently failed  to connect with the worldview of netizens who believed in horizontal  mode of communication. The netizens were both wary and weary of the  hierarchical modes of political process and found spaces of relief and hope  in the rap songs of Balen Shah – as the new avatar of democratic reasoning  – which conveyed fierce criticism against the government machinery, party  politics, corruption, and nepotism throughout Nepal.  

Baby Boomers vs. Gen Z 

To top it all, this new generation also had political issues which were  significantly different from that of the leadership which belonged to the ‘Baby  Boomers’ generation. The former was more concerned with issues having  relevance to individual choices, aspirations and freedoms. Additionally,  given their global outlook, the Gen Z were interested in entrepreneurship  and economic opportunities. But, the latter generation, which maintained  a tight control over the political leadership, was both unable and unwilling  to meet these conditions. This is partly due to the Frankenstein’s monster  of partyfication that they have created and partly due to the changing  global context, where the positive effects of globalisation were receding  and the old nationalist rhetoric and posturing was limiting opportunities  for a population that increasingly viewed itself as global netizens.  

Social Media Boom 

One interesting aspect of this electoral outcome has been the use of  social media for political mobilisation and reaching out to people through  messaging. The old guards failed not just to connect and communicate, but  there was a significant cultural lag in the way social media is used by the  Baby Boomers. The Gen Z were able to connect with a rapper (Balendra  Shah) who was expressing their anxiety and frustration in a language (through rap) that the young population could connect with in a medium  (social media like Tik Tok) that they were used to frequenting. In one of  his pre-electoral speeches delivered (in Maithili language) at Janakpur (on  January 19, 2026), which readily became viral, Balendra Shah appealed to  people to vote for him not because a Madhesi youth contesting election  as a potential PM candidate but to vote the right person, at the right  moment, for the right cause! The right cause is to ensure all inclusive Bikas  (development) for all castes/ communities in all provinces.  

Attention Economy 

In addition, the political messaging was done in a language that was  simpler, free of jargons and ideological rhetoric and direct. The RSP and  Balendra Shah made sure that they were communicating about everyday  lives and struggles, which was missing among the old guards. When political  communication is being considered, there is a need to pay attention to the  fact that it is being done in an era of ‘attention economy’. As Nepali society  grapples with information overload owing to the invasion of new media,  attention itself has become a scarce commodity. Therefore, political groups  and leaders are using that scarce commodity to their advantage. To this  end, they did employ many tactics including their hard-hitting speeches  or even their looks to gather significant following through which they  communicate their message.  

Vignettes of this attention economy also featured in the same speech  delivered at Janakpur, as Balendra Shah proposes a model of provincial  decentralisation that would not demand people from far-flung provinces  to come to Kathmandu to resolve administrative, financial, judicial issues,  while they should visit Kathmandu but only as leisure time destination.  Also, he made his vision clear to his upcoming netizen entrepreneurs to  find prospects in local tourism by preserving the local resources, traditions,  heritage sites throughout the country and especially in historical places  like Janakpur. He gave a ready example as to how Mithila could be made  a tourist hotspot by making it an upcoming site for destination marriages! 

We need to wait and see how Nepal fares in the coming days under the  leadership of RSP and Balendra Shah, who has created the hype as one who  wishes to replicate his role as the Mayor of Kathmandu city now as the PM for the 7 provinces and 753 local governments of the nation. This is indeed  a crucial time for Nepal, as the election results also prove that RSP’s so called horizontal mobilisation or Balen Shah’s mediatised rap songs could  not reach to Western and Eastern Nepal highlands.  

Swatahsiddha Sarkar is a social anthropologist based at the Centre for Himalayan  Studies, University of North Bengal, India 

Pranab Kharel is a sociologist based at Martin Chautari, Kathmandu, Nepal