KATHMANDU, Nov 18: Once a name whispered in security briefings and insurgent strongholds, Netra Bikram Chand — better known by his nom de guerre Biplav — walked into the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday to register his party under a new symbol: a rose.
For a leader whose political journey has long been intertwined with the language of revolt, the delicate bloom marks a symbolic break from the past. Chand, chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), received the party certificate and election symbol from Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, as party cadres—once associated with armed rebellion—looked on.
The party had formally applied for registration under the name Communist Party of Nepal on October 28.
Ballot boxes set on fire in Bajura
The moment carried striking contrast. Chand, a veteran of the 1996 Maoist insurgency, had once followed the mainstream Maoist leadership into the peace process, even contesting the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. But he later returned underground as factions split and regrouped.
After joining Mohan Baidya’s breakaway faction in 2012, Chand eventually formed his own group in 2016, steering it into a series of armed activities that culminated in the government declaring it illegal in 2019 following bomb blasts in Kathmandu, including one targeting Ncell.
Only after a three-point agreement with the KP Sharma Oli government in March 2021 was the ban lifted, enabling Chand’s group to re-enter peaceful politics.
Party leaders frame this turn as both strategic and generational. Spokesperson Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma, who submitted the registration documents earlier this week, said the party had “four clear reasons” for joining the democratic contest: “to align with the spirit of the Gen-Z revolution; to safeguard national sovereignty; to transform the political system by establishing a directly elected socialist federal state; and to build a peaceful and prosperous nation through agricultural and industrial revolution.”
The party now champions what it calls “directly-elected socialist federalism,” a model it argues will break political stagnation and give younger generations greater political agency.
For a former underground commander returning to the public stage with a rose in hand, the coming election will test whether this revamped agenda can resonate beyond the symbolism.
