Nepal, Feb. 20 -- For years, Nepal's political pulse seemed to fade from open public grounds to the closed comfort of party palaces. After the 2022 general elections, mass gatherings in large public spaces had all but disappeared. Even Tundikhel-once the beating heart of political mobilization-remained largely off-limits for party events. Street protests thinned, traffic disruptions eased, and parties appeared hesitant to measure their strength under the open sky.

Until 2017, major forces like the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML routinely flexed their muscles through massive rallies. By the 2022 polls, however, closed-door assemblies had replaced open-air spectacles. The September 8 Gen Z protest-and the vandalism that followed-further ...