I remember the euphoria that followed the announcement of the results of the 1977 elections. Even 50 years have not dulled that sentiment. The Emergency had ended, and the pall of dictatorship lifted. Our vote had restored democracy. A new beginning lay ahead.

Something similar happened in Nepal earlier this month. The election results have shut the door on the past and opened a passage to a new future. It’s not just a fresh beginning. It feels like a new life.

Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, and his Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) swept to an unbelievable landslide majority. They have won 182 seats out of 275, just two short of a two-thirds majority.

What makes this even more surprising — actually exhilarating — is that only 165 seats were directly elected. The Rashtriya Swatantra Party won 125. The remaining 110 were chosen by proportional representation. This hybrid system made it very difficult for any party to win an outright majority. Yet the RSP comfortably did.

This means Balendra Shah,........

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