by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Sept 4, 2023 .The Rastriya Swatantra Party, which took many by surprise when it got established as the fourth largest in the House of Representatives elections within months of its formation, has encountered challenges in expanding its influence in Madhesh. Though the party has launched various activities in the province composed solely of Tarai districts, its leaders said they have realised that they have to put extra effort…
Posts tagged as “swatantra”
By Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, May 01, 2023The suspense over the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s next move endures. As matters stand, the RSP leadership is keeping its cards too close to its chest—whether it will join the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government or withdraw its support, remains to be seen. The party registered impressive victories in two of the three constituencies in the by-elections. “The prime minister had called to congratulate me. He also inquired…
By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, April 29, 2023After the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won two out of three seats in the by-elections, its chairman Rabi Lamichhane, who took the oath of office and secrecy as a newly-elected lawmaker, said on Friday that his party isn’t thinking of joining the government in its current set-up. With the RSP emerging from the April 23 by-elections with an increased strength, all eyes are now on…
By Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, April 21, 2023Rabi Lamichhane and, by extension, Rastriya Swatantra Party’s supporters have been showing little tolerance for criticism and questions being asked of the newly-emerged party and its leader. Insults and epithets like ‘traitor’, ‘jhole’, ‘patrukar’, ‘brokers’ and the like are routinely traded on social media by the followers against just anyone who expresses any critical comment against Lamichhane and the RSP. Such low-level comments pour in immediately…
by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 21, 2023The newcomer Rastriya Swatantra Party’s unexpected success and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s impressive comeback in the November elections have sharply curtailed the Madhesh-based parties’ bargaining power in ongoing power-sharing negotiations. Among the Madhesh-based parties, so far only the Janamat Party has joined the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and it too is not happy with its share in the Cabinet. Janamat Party chair CK Raut’s…