Nepali parties promise big ahead of polls; however, concerns remain

From promising to increase the size of the economy to NRs 10 trillion (about $77 billion) and raising per capita income to $2,500-3,000, to creating more than one million jobs a year and tripling or even quadrupling electricity generation, Nepali parties have promised the moon as Nepal is set to vote in a landmark election on March 5.

Parties have already unveiled their manifestos and are now on campaign trails, pledging not only development but also an end to corruption and good governance — the rallying cry of the Gen Z protests of September last year, which necessitated the election.

Analysts, however, are cautious. While they are sceptical of the parties’ overambitious plans, they point to the risk of this election turning into another regular vote that may not offer solutions to some core political problems plaguing Nepal.

Tara Nath Dahal, a civic rights activist and campaigner for open government, says a hung Parliament is almost certain, which could revive the same revolving-door politics, albeit with new actors and faces.

“None of the parties seems to have paid attention to crucial Bills, including those related to media and social media, that need to be passed,” Mr. Dahal said. “It’s strange that parties have forgotten that the Gen Z protests had their roots in the then-government’s move to ban social media platforms.”

More than 60 parties and over 3,000 candidates are in the fray for the 275-member House of Representatives, which is composed of 165 directly elected members and 110 elected under the proportional representation system.

Nepal’s tech-savvy youth took to the streets on September 8-9 last year, triggered by the then-K.P. Sharma Oli government’s abrupt decision to ban at least 26 social media platforms.

They demonstrated against entrenched corruption, years of misrule, nepotism, and cronyism, and demanded change.

A total of 77 people lost their lives in the two-day protest, with 19 killed in police gunfire on the first day.

Mr. Oli resigned on September 9. An interim government, led by Sushila Karki, was formed on September 12; it dissolved the House and called for snap polls on March 5.

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Tall promises

Campaigns are now in full swing. Some analysts say the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is experiencing a groundswell. The RSP is a relatively new party, born just six months before the 2022 elections, and it has promised to expand the economy to $100 billion, raise per capita income to more than $3,000, and create 1.2 million jobs.

The Nepali Congress, a divided house since the January tumult in the party, is contesting the election under new leadership. The party has promised an economy of $79.9 billion, per capita income of $2,500, and 1.5 lakh jobs each year for five years.

Mr. Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) in its manifesto has said the economy would be expanded to $69.4 billion in five years and then doubled to $138.8 billion in ten years.

Ujyalo Nepal Party, a new political force led by Kulman Ghising, a former technocrat credited with ending Nepal’s years-long power outages, is aiming for 12,000 MW of electricity production by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2035.

Analysts say that given the context of the current economy, with Nepal’s nominal GDP at roughly $45.5 billion, per capita GDP around $1,535, one in five persons unemployed, and the country’s current power generation at 3,878 MW, almost all parties have made tall claims without providing any concrete plans — or a clear resource management model.

Mr. Dahal says what’s absurd is that none of the parties have talked about how they are going to institutionalise the demands of the Gen Z movement.

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Incomplete manifestos

“Every party is talking about development and ending corruption. But development is a political process; corruption has its roots in the system and culture,” he said. “Political commitment and the will to achieve those are missing from their manifestos.”

Most of the parties have made the September protests their reference point, stopping short of acknowledging their demands. The Nepali Congress, though, has explicitly referenced and incorporated the Gen-Z uprising but has also centred its manifesto on the economy and development.

Parties this time have given different names to their core documents, with some calling it a commitment paper and others calling it a citizen contract or a promise document.

Regardless, what Nepali society is looking for is change, says Dr. Pramod Jaiswal, Research Director at Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, a Kathmandu-based thinktank.

“It will be wrong to assume that post-election this country will be on the path of development at once,” he said. “What we can expect is we will definitely see some change in the Nepali political landscape.”

According to him, a new force, which could be the RSP, is likely to alter the traditional composition in Parliament or may even get a chance to lead the government.

“If so, it will be under pressure not to repeat the mistakes of the old parties,” he said. “That may bring some change.”

No matter what parties have pledged, even if their promises are realistic, achieving those goals is not going to be easy unless a party secures a majority and leads the government for five years.

In a country where structural constraints have long stymied development efforts, the promises will have to be traded off when coalition practices repeat, says Mr. Dahal.

“So, these manifestos hardly mean anything,” he added. “This election is most likely to return us to the same coalition fragility.”

Published – February 28, 2026 10:53 pm IST