Kathmandu, February 28 The Rastriya Swatantra Party launched its grand election rally in the Kathmandu Valley on Saturday and claimed to have received "very positive and encouraging" responses from the people in the days leading up to the March 5 voting in Nepal.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Rabi Lamichhane, has nominated Balendra Shah 'Balen', the former Kathmandu mayor and rapper-turned-politician, as its prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming elections, and has promised good governance and a corruption-free rule to the country, which has been dominated by legacy parties for over two decades.
The general elections were necessitated after Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli resigned on September 9, following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.
"The RSP represents the voice of the people who want change, who want to end corruption and introduce good governance so that the country will prosper. There was a massive turnout of people in Saturday's road show in the streets of Kathmandu," said Shankar Shrestha, Secretary, Federal Election Executive Committee of RSP.
Not just in Kathmandu, he said, people's participation and their response to the party's campaign has been very positive and encouraging across Nepal.
"All the Nepalese have extended their mandate for the change in the current situation. People are eagerly waiting for March 5, to cast their vote in favor of change," he said.
Both Lamichhane and Balen have been travelling across Nepal, spreading the party's message.
On Saturday, the party organised its first grand programme in the form of a road show in all 15 constituencies of the Kathmandu Valley, covering three districts – Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur. The road show saw the participation of thousands of supporters on motorbikes and cars.
Before launching the campaign, the leaders of the party, including Balen and Rabi, received blessings from Lord Shiva at the holy Pashupatinath Temple, situated on the banks of the Bagmati river in Kathmandu.
Shah and Lamichhane reached out to voters, waving and shaking hands, ringing a bell – the election symbol of the party – in their hands.
Wherever they reached, the cheering crowd welcomed them, waving and clapping their hands. Thousands of RSP supporters were carrying the party's blue-colored flag and election symbol bell, standing on both sides of the road, shouting slogans like 'Abki bar Balen sarkar,' 'Stamp on bell to kick out the corrupt people.'
Earlier in the month, kicking off its election campaign from Janakpur in the Dhanusha district of Madhes province, Balen travelled to various districts of eastern Nepal's Koshi province and then to a few districts of Sudur Paschim and Karnali province in western Nepal, before arriving at Pokhara and Butwal in Gandaki province, where the party received unprecedented support from the voters.
A day before Kathmandu's grand final rally, on Friday in Chitwan, Balen started the speech by saying "I love you," amidst the large cheering crowd in Chitwan. However, as he tried to address the mass rally, the crowd was shouting by repeating his name 'Balen,' 'Balen,' wishing for his victory.
"In most of the places, Balen's speeches were very short, just 4 to 5 minutes long, but he conveyed the message what he wanted to," Shrestha said.
He spoke about the problems that local farmers faced, of those who couldn't sell their products because of a lack of proper market and adequate prices. "We want the local farmers to benefit by providing them with appropriate prices," Balen promised. "We will build a sufficient number of cold storages so that the farmers can store their products when the market is low and sell when they get a good price."
Saturday's campaign ended in the evening with a closing programme upon reaching the party's central office at Banasthali on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
A total of 18.9 million eligible voters will exercise their franchise to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives (HoR), polling for which will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on March 5.
