Most analysts have confessed that they were surprised by the results in the recently concluded Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal. My son, who returned from a trek to the Everest Base Camp a day before polling, however, was not. When I asked him why, his response was, “My porter told me the Maoists were going to win.”

Obviously, the common man in Nepal has made all the difference. For those who know and care for Nepal, the shape of things emerging from these polls could not have been better. It would be an understatement to call it a historic event. It is but rarely in the history of our times that the electorate of any country in our region has offered its verdict in such a decisive manner, leaving no one in doubt about the preferences of the people about who should govern them.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) and Baburam Bhattarai (Laldhoj), gave up on the system of multi-party democracy in its early stages and launched a “people’s war” from the jungles. Within a few years, the movement had become so strong that a majority of Nepal’s districts were under their influence, if not control. Nepal went through the trauma of the palace massacre in 2001, and things went from bad to worse, giving an excuse for the vastly unpopular King Gyanendra to take over as an absolute monarch. It took this climactic event to bring the Maoists above ground again, and into an understanding with the other political parties, in order to launch a powerful people’s movement which led to the overthrow of the king. Then, after several hiccups, the CA elections happened, with stunning results.

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