Kathmandu, Nov. 14 -- New and old, businessmen and former diplomats, engineers and academics - they have all been trooping to the Election Commission to register political parties ahead of the Sunday deadline.

Till press time Thursday, five new parties had been registered and 21 new parties were in the process of applying. Behind the scenes, new parties are head-hunting, well-known figures are shopping for parties to join, while older parties are splitting or uniting to form new united parties.

"It is reason for optimism that people are enthused to form new parties," notes political analyst Indra Adhikari. But, she adds, this does not mean that despite the celebrity status they will win votes and succeed in politics.

The outlier in all...