KATHMANDU, Dec 1: In the 2017 local elections, a 21-year-old woman stunned not just Kathmandu, but the entire country by garnering an unexpected vote in the mayoral race. She was Ranju Darshana, the Bibeksheel Nepali Party (BNP)’s young candidate whose third-place finish with 23,439 votes drew more attention than the winner himself.
UML’s Bidya Sundar Shakya won the mayoral race with 64,913 votes, and Nepali Congress’s Raju Raj Joshi finished second with 45,269. Independent candidate Kishor Thapa, backed by Rabindra Mishra’s Sajha Party, came fourth with 18,496 votes.
For many, the votes secured by Ranju and Ujwal Thapa were a fresh jolt of “alternative politics,” and at the center of that spark stood Thapa—the activist regarded as the moral compass of Nepal’s alternative political movement.
Thapa had championed constructive, creative methods at a time when street politics favored shutdowns and vandalism. When Maoists continued calling strikes even after entering peaceful politics, Thapa countered with “Nepal is open,” distributing flowers to police officers and placing them inside gun barrels to make a point. His tone was always calm, civil, and principled.
He infused these values into the Bibeksheel campaign and later into the BNP, inspiring many frustrated with traditional parties to rally behind alternative politics. Ranju was one of the most visible faces nurtured under that philosophy—soft-spoken, composed, and trusted by Kathmandu’s young electorate.
UML's Pokhrel, NC’s Paudel and independent candidate Ranju Dars...
But this Sunday, her tone was strikingly different.
At an event where the Bibeksheel Sajha Party (BSP) formally merged with the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Ranju delivered sharp remarks aimed at critics of the unification.
Just days earlier, party chair Samikchya Baskota had announced that the party was “unconditionally” merging with RSP. The declaration triggered backlash from long-time Bibeksheel supporters, who argued that Thapa’s civic values were being subsumed under RSP—a party whose chair, Rabi Lamichhane, has faced multiple legal controversies, from citizenship issues to cooperative fraud allegations.
For many former Bibeksheel activists, the unconditional nature of the merger felt like a betrayal of the principled politics they once rallied behind. Some voiced their objections publicly; others kept their silence. Former coordinator Milan Pandey congratulated those who joined RSP but announced he would remain in a “cooling period.”
Responding to these criticisms, Ranju adopted a tone reminiscent of mainstream RSP rhetoric.
“Media friends and those unhappy with the unification have been saying we are going to dissolve,” she said from the stage. “We have not dissolved; we have come to unite. Everyone should understand this clearly.”
Invoking Thapa to justify the party’s move, she added, “Ujwal dai always said, ‘Don’t make noise for the sake of a name; show it through action.’ Today, that is exactly what we have done.”
Her critique did not stop with former Bibeksheel supporters—she also addressed skeptics within RSP who worry that the newcomers may trigger internal conflict.
“You all have experienced a lot of splits. Some may think we will come here and create chaos,” she said. “But because we have already experienced such splits, we have learned an important lesson—that breaking apart doesn’t work; coming together does.”
Arguing that unity will drive future politics, she said the alternative force must aim for a majority in the next election.
“I want to assure you—there will be no chaos here, and we have not come to create any. We have already learned our lesson,” she said.
