Nepal, March 14 -- New governing party's reform agenda is a legacy of Bibeksheel Nepali founder Ujwal Thapa Let's have another cup of tea," Ujwal Thapa of the alternative Bibeksheel Nepali party told the young activist Pukar Bam ten years ago. The two had 12 cups of tea that day, discussing ways to get Nepal out of its political deadend.

Thapa contested the Constituent Assembly election in 2013 as an independent from Kathmandu, and formed Bibeksheel Nepali to galvanise youth impatient for change, fielding candidates in the first federal election in 2017.

Ujwal Thapa was a political guru who was way ahead of his time, and his proteges were among the RSP's winning candidates in last week's election.

Pukar Bam was a core member of Bibeksh...