- Friday, 3 April 2026
Dr Narad Prasad Bharadwaj
With the emergence of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as a formidable national political force in a short span of time, in sharp contrast to other large parties that took decades to achieve visibility and a credible profile, a new milestone has been set in the history of party building. This party has catapulted itself from the bottom rung of the power hierarchy to the pedestal of a ruling party through an electoral high jump not witnessed before. This event will go down in history as a new frontier of electoral possibility.
As traditional large parties lick the wounds of defeat, not knowing how they lost their foothold in their home turf, the RSP appears to be basking in the glory of victory, trying to script a new rule book for the solution of the problems besetting the country. It is yet to be seen how the party will be as effective in prescribing the recipe for economic development and navigating the diplomatic labyrinth as in mobilising the support base for enacting the electoral blitzkrieg.
Youthful force
The RSP has risen to power, projecting itself as a new and youthful force in society. They were voted to power with the overwhelming support of smartphone-holding youths and the ordinary voters who were exasperated by the inability of traditional parties to frame feasible development plans and implement them expeditiously. The RSP also significantly benefited from those political workers who voted for the RSP candidates or remained passive after crossing the corridors of allegiance to their parties.
After taking a relatively easy ride to power, the RSP is now up for facing the tougher challenge of meeting the popular aspiration for a rapid social-economic transformation. Multiple challenges await them on different fronts. To bring about a visible change, the new government must be able to stem the flow of out-migration, find alternative employment avenues to compensate for the remittance, control corruption, abolish nepotism and institutionalise meritocracy. At the same time, cultivating a democratic culture and promoting participatory governance is important.
The new government has assumed power in a complex geopolitical ecosystem marked by shifting international and regional balance of power, whose repercussions are being felt in the economies of less developed countries in the global south. As the war in West Asia moves up the escalation ladder, Nepal faces an imminent risk of having to deal with the chain effects of fuel shortages, ranging from increased transport costs, disruption in production, pressure on supply mechanisms to inflation. Given the crumbling international supply chains and resulting scarcity, completing national pride projects and implementing fresh infrastructure within the deadline can be a daunting task.
The new RSP government is endowed with the most competent, educated and youthful human resources at the leadership level, in addition to owning the widest support base and its legitimacy anchored on popularity. But that is not sufficient. Despite high motivation and strong will, the RSP leadership lacks adequate exposure to statecraft and diplomatic insights for navigating the nuances of foreign policy imperatives. Many of its leaders have publicly criticised the foreign policy management of the previous governments. With the recall of ambassadors assigned to friendly foreign countries, it remains unrepresented in international diplomatic forums. As of the writing of this article, the RSP government has not spelled out its own foreign policy vision.
In the present moment marked by ever-intense international power rivalry, the RSP government has a paramount necessity for maintaining transparent and balanced relations with our immediate neighbours, China and India, giving priority to building relations with countries of the global south. This government has inherited certain diplomatic baggage from the previous government, which it cannot dump aside without impinging on consistency and continuity with time-tested foreign policy practices. They are the BRI agreement signed with China and the Millennium Corporation Compact (MCC) signed with the United States of America. A general diplomatic understanding is that China has taken Nepal’s acceptance of the MCC project with certain discomfort.
Discourse on SPP
In this context, the ongoing discourse on the State Partnership Programme (SPP) and the connection of Tibetan Original Blood (TOB) with the Gen Z revolt could put the RSP government on edge while dealing with cross-cutting strategic interests of international powers. The ongoing conflict dynamics of the Gulf region show that seemingly harmless concessions to powerful countries eventually lead smaller countries into conflict. The five oil-rich Gulf countries are now incurring heavy losses in the form of retaliatory missile attacks from Iran because they have decided to host the US air bases on their land. Just like the Gulf States, Nepal occupies a sensitive strategic location in triangular power rivalry among China, India and the US. The new RSP government may need to tread cautiously while dealing with the geopolitical interests of these powers.
The RSP’s sweeping mandate allows it to reformulate guiding policies on any sector of governance, remodel economic programmes and reinforce institutional reforms in all areas of public interest. They are also free to frame their own foreign policy priorities. But what they must not forget is the fact that the mandate of the people demands responsibility and restraint. The people have given a mandate to the RSP in a complex circumstance. It will succeed only if it treads cautiously, reinforcing collaborative ambience, remaining free from a revenge mindset and fully awake to both the domestic and geopolitical challenges.
(Dr. Bharadwaj is a former ambassador. Bharadwajnarad@gmail.com.)
