SURKHET: Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has said the next five years will not be wasted and pledged to make public a monthly progress report if his party is elected.
Addressing a provincial-level election rally of the Nepali Congress in Surkhet on Thursday, Thapa urged voters to ensure the party’s victory in the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, saying the period from 2082 to 2087 BS would be made “golden” for the country.
“The past five to six years were spent merely in forming and toppling governments. This has frustrated the youth. At a time when the country should have gained momentum, coalition politics derailed progress,” he said. “We have come with a dream to turn this opportunity into a golden chapter in Nepal’s history. We know the country’s limitations and we will address them.”
Thapa said the party has already unveiled its manifesto and would not wait five years to show results. “On Baisakh 1, we will say what we achieved in one month. On Jestha 1, we will again present what we accomplished in another month,” he said.
He also expressed readiness to sit for a common agenda with other political forces but claimed they were unwilling. “We invited UML, the Communist Party and RSP to sit on a common platform to draft plans, but none came,” he said, warning Karnali residents not to believe in “drama” by political actors making unrealistic promises.
Without naming individuals, Thapa said no unarmed citizen should lose their life to state bullets and no group should resort to violence against state institutions. He warned that taking responsibility for protests but not for subsequent destruction could push the country toward further instability.
Addressing Nepalis abroad, Thapa said the party would investigate all corruption cases since 1990. “If anyone from my own family is found involved, they will not be spared. In the next five years, not a single case of wrongdoing should be heard,” he said.
Highlighting Karnali’s poverty, he questioned why the province continues to bear around 40 percent poverty when the national average stands at about 17 percent. “We must reach the root of the problem,” he said, urging voters not to treat the coming five years as an experiment but as a decisive opportunity.
Thapa said there can be no comparison between Karnali and Kathmandu Metropolitan City in terms of resources. “Karnali’s annual revenue is around Rs 520 million, while Kathmandu has around Rs 10 billion. The mayor in Kathmandu can spend billions, but Karnali lacks sufficient transport and road networks, which are key sources of revenue,” he said.
He stressed the need to amend constitutional and legal provisions to allow Karnali to collect taxes from Kathmandu. He also pointed out that budget spending in mountainous districts remains low due to time-bound expenditure rules that do not suit the region’s geography and climate, resulting in budget freeze.
Thapa further said Karnali lags behind in the information economy due to weak foundations in science, English and mathematics. “For children to compete, mothers’ health and nutrition must be improved. A child’s learning capacity develops within the first five years,” he said, stressing the need to invest in maternal health and nutrition in Karnali.
Stating that development is multi-dimensional, Thapa admitted that the party’s manifesto has yet to gain sufficient public attention. He claimed neither status quo forces nor extreme elements could lead the country toward progress.
“We have corrected our past weaknesses. The Nepali Congress is a party rooted in this country. We will change ourselves and we will change the country,” he said, urging party cadres to reach out to voters at their homes and convey the message that the next five years must not be wasted.
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