Bibeksheel Sajha, the party that laid the foundation for alternative politics in Nepal, has decided to merge with the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). Amid growing calls for new political forces to come together following September’s Gen Z movement, the party announced that it had decided to unite with the RSP. The merger is set to be formalised on Sunday.

Bibeksheel, which had contested in certain constituencies of Kathmandu during the second Constituent Assembly elections using the dog as its election symbol, posed a notable challenge to the established political parties—the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress—in the 2017 local elections in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The party fielded its youngest candidate, Ranju Darshana, while Kishor Thapa, a candidate from the then separate Sajha Party advocating for alternative politics, also did well.

By the time the 2017 federal and provincial elections came around, leadership disputes eventually led to a split. The faction led by journalist Rabindra Mishra who had headed the Sajha Party and later merged it with Bibeksheel, broke away, championing the slogan ‘the nation is greater than the party’ and advocating for the restoration of the monarchy, ultimately joining the Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 2022.

Although Mishra, who played a key role in the Sajha-Bibeksheel merger, left the party and took his faction to the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, remaining members of Bibeksheel continued under the banner of Bibeksheel Sajha.

However, with Bibeksheel Sajha now set to merge with the RSP, the party that once lit the flame of alternative politics is poised to lose its independent existence altogether.

Bibeksheel Sajha chief Samiksha Baskota, however, said the merger would not erase the party’s identity. Baskota claims that, as part of the merger, the RSP will take ownership of their legacy.

Although the RSP itself has been criticised for ideological vagueness even three years after its formation, Baskota said the ten years of experience and institutional development gained through the practice of alternative politics by Bikeksheel Shaja would make the RSP’s future journey smoother. Therefore, she argued, it is wrong to assume that the merger will harm Bibeksheel Sajha’s legacy.

“We are merging by giving top priority to that legacy, without scrambling for positions,” Baskota told the Post.

Meanwhile, RSP General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti said that although the decision to merge has been made, some technical matters are still being worked out.

Burlakoti also said that following the merger, the party will retain the name Rastriya Swatantra Party and the bell as its election symbol, which Baskota also acknowledged. He further said that even in the future mergers, the RSP name and the bell election symbol would be retained.

“We are currently discussing technical issues such as which individuals from Bibeksheel Sajha will be brought into the Central Committee. These are procedural matters and will be finalised soon,” Burlakoti said.

The RSP is also pursuing unity with other alternative political forces. According to party leaders, discussions are underway with the Ujyalo Nepal Party (UNP), formed under the patronage of Kulman Ghising, the minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation in the interim government. The RSP leader also said that the party is in talks with some Madhes-based forces on possible electoral alliances.

The RSP had previously discussed forming a new party with Ghising. However, after talks failed to take a positive turn, the UNP was registered at the Election Commission on November 12 with Ghising’s backing.

Earlier, with the involvement of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, the RSP and Ghising had held several rounds of discussions on forming a single party. Those talks could not reach a conclusion, reportedly over party leadership. Although RSP leaders had offered Ghising the position of vice-president, discussions fell apart after Ghising insisted on leading the party himself.

Recently, the dialogue has been more positive, though the final agreement is yet to be reached, according to leaders of the two parties.

Meanwhile, Jitman Lama, a UNP member, acknowledged ongoing discussions with the RSP, but said the possibility of contesting the election under a single election symbol is becoming increasingly unlikely.

“Although the Election Commission has extended the deadline for party registration for electoral purposes and dialogue with the RSP is positive, the likelihood of an agreement on electoral cooperation is higher than that of contesting under the same election symbol,” Lama said.

RSP General Secretary Burlakoti described the Election Commission’s extension of the deadline for registration of the political parties for electoral purposes by four days as meaningful.

“We are in discussions with several new parties to build an alternative political force, although so far we have reached an agreement only with Bibeksheel Sajha,” Burlakoti said.

“We are not negotiating with old political forces of the Madhes, but rather with new political groups and parties that have expressed moral support for the Gen Z movement.

“As the RSP’s presence in the Madhes province is relatively weak, it seems more beneficial to coordinate with emerging Madhesi forces. These discussions, led by the party’s spokesperson, Manish Jha, are still in the initial phase,” Burlakoti told the Post.

Abdul Khan, who had quit the CK Raut-led Janamat Party to form Nagarik Unmukti Party-Nepal (NUP-Nepal) under Rashem Chaudhary, said that there have been discussions with the RSP on an electoral alliance.

“We three parties—NUP-Nepal, Janata Samajbadi Party led by Ashok Rai and Rastriya Mukti Party led by Rajendra Mahato—had already decided to contest the March 5 election under the same symbol ‘rotary quern’ [janto in Nepali], which is the election symbol of NUP-Nepal,” Khan said.

“Lately we are also in discussion with the RSP for the electoral alliance. Hopefully the talks will be fruitful,” Khan said.