When 80 km is too long: Darbhanga to Janakpur, two tales of stalled change

The distance between Darbhanga (India) and Janakpur (Nepal) is barely 80 km. But here in Darbhanga, the Gen Z-led upheavals in Nepal have the quality of a blur. It is remarkable that events that have had a cataclysmic impact on many political leaders and their parties just 100 km away have had no impact on the placidity — even hopelessness — in Darbhanga.

 

Suraj Rai talks as he rolls out and flips aalu paranthas on his smoking griddle in a tarpaulin-covered stall by the side of the road. He’s been a “caterer”, as he describes himself, at the same spot, near Darbhanga’s Uma Cinema, for 30 years. “Jab log adhai rupay mein picture dekhte the tab ham aath aane ka singhada becha karte the” (when movie-goers used to watch movies for ₹2.50, I used to sell samosas for 50 paise) he says, to provide historical context. Despite the insanitary conditions — a drain carrying all manner of objects gurgles noisily nearby — he is proud of a 20 foot X 20 foot stall and has clear opinions on politics. “I will vote for Modiji,” he says, “and only for Nitishji because it enables me to vote for Modiji”. Almost defiantly he adds, without being asked: “I am a Jaswal Kurmi,” the message he is trying to send is that he is breaking caste solidarity with the Bihar chief minister. “Modiji ne desh ke liye bahut kucch kiya hai” (Modiji has done a lot for the nation). But what about livelihood, jobs, the decay all around? He shrugs. His mind is made up. In Mithilanchal, they don’t do upheavals. In the greater national good.

 

One hundred km away, the rolling revolution continues. In Nepali there’s a saying: “Kukkur marne gaye thiyo, baagh marera aayo” (he went out to kill a dog but killed a tiger). No one, not even the leaders of the movement, expected this kind of outcome: The resignation of a Prime Minister. The collapse of the hierarchies of all established political parties. The pressure is now on them to rebrand and recast themselves.

 

This is happening. Former Prime Minister Prachanda has had to resign as president of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN Maoist) to become its coordinator and has had to lay the foundation stone for rebuilding the party office, destroyed in arson. Another Maoist Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has quit politics altogether. Two former Prime Ministers — K P Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN UML) and Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress — are being urged to resign from the leadership of their parties. Little is heard about Rabi Lamichhane of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party, now back in jail. Former King Gyanendra Shah was approached by some of the Gen Z to return as constitutional monarch once President R C Poudel resigned, according to Madhav Nepal, another former Prime Minister, but Mr Poudel refused to quit and hence no vacancy arose. In any case, the former king wanted all political parties to agree to his return. However, his supporter, Durga Prasain, who faces charges of bank fraud and is out on bail, is proposing to launch a political party with the former king’s blessings — so he says.

 

The people of Darbhanga seem to have made their peace with their circumstances and don’t blame the current dispensation for anything. But 80 km away, Gen Z is not ready to compromise. One of the leaders of the movement, Miraj Dhungana, held a press conference last week to announce the formation of a political party if the basic demands of the movement were not met:  A directly elected executive system and voting rights for Nepal’s citizens residing abroad, and action on corruption.

 

It is hard to see how these issues can be addressed ahead of the polls, scheduled for March next year.  The 2015 Constitution — specifically the parts relating to the electoral system — needs to be amended. In a House of 275 members, 165 are directly elected in the first-past-the-post system. The rest come from proportional representation. This ensures no single party can win a majority to form the government. Amending the Constitution is fraught with difficulties.

 

A commission to investigate corruption has been set up. But it will take years to complete its job. Meanwhile, traditional parties are not sitting about twiddling their thumbs. Prachanda has quickly said he agreed with everything Gen Z has said. In the Nepali Congress, a campaign is on to replace Mr Deuba with someone else, possibly Shekhar Koirala, who is also in agreement with Gen Z. It is such an amorphous group that voters will have a hard time figuring out who the real Gen Z is. Rebranding political parties is aimed at precisely that outcome. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

 

So like in Darbhanga, where people are not happy with their lot but have made their peace with it, in Nepal too, structural change seems a bridge too far. The story doesn’t end with a bang, but with a cliche.