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Naya Shakti Nepal, a new political party led by former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has become the subject of political gossip and has been attracting media attention lately. Dr. Bhattrai who hails from the remote village of Gorkha had mysteriously isolated himself from the United Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (UCPN Maoist) and as the lawmaker has been promoting his party very aggressively. The inclusion of Nepalese celebrity Karishma Manandhar has eased his promotion campaign. The party was formerly announced more than a week ago in Kathmandu amidst the thousands of people. Former Prime Minister Bhattarai, while addressing the gathering, announced that the singular focus of the new party would be on ensuring speedy development and economic prosperity in the country within a matter of years.

There were many big announcements on the inaugural day of the party announcement. Among many that made the crowd roar was that Naya Shakti Nepal (NSN) would make Nepal the richest country in the next 25 years but there was no explanation on how. When Nepal is struggling to get promoted to the list of developing country from a least developed country, being the richest would be a mere fantasy. The other big shot was that Nepal would gain the annual GDP of 15 – 20 percent. When the economic powerhouses of the world – India and China had the annual GDP of 7.1 and 6.9 percent respectively in 2015 than at present scenario; we must say that Dr. Bhattarai may have been strongly influenced by the present prime minister KP Oli’s good sense of humor.

The Naya Shakti Nepal which claims that it would be an alternative to the existing political parties in Nepal has not provided a reason to be convinced that it would be a reason for Nepal's historical prosperity. Dr. Bhattarai was not able to leave a strong impression on the minds of people when he was the prime minister during his tenure with the United Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN – Maoist). Hence, in the forthcoming election people will definitely question why I should vote for NSN. The major drawback would be that the NSN coordinator was responsible for killing 17,000 civilian during the period of civil war.

Just naming the party “new power” will not justify that NSN will bring new changes in the country. NSN is composed of same old leaders painted with new positions. This does not mean that we want to see the downfall of NSN. In contrast, we want it to become the party that will fulfill the long waited aspirations of Nepalese people to see its motherland progressing in the rapid path of development.

Let’s wish them luck so that they will be able to implement their announcement.