Kathmandu, Feb. 14
A café in Bardaghat of
Nawalparasi (West) has been busy for the last four weeks. The owner said that
it remains open till midnight as a political party has made it an alternative
meeting venue for voters and its candidates. It has increased the business.
"Sales have
reached almost 1.5 times compared to that of the normal times. I hope it will
be more than double in the final three weeks of the campaign," said the
elated owner. The café has already hired two additional staff and procures more
meat, vegetables and liquor.
Aabritti Chhapakhana,
a company offering creative and printing services in Kathmandu, is busy in
designing and printing campaign materials for various candidates from across
the country. However, the restriction on printing multi-colour promotional
materials and posters has significantly downsized the business. "Unlike in
the past, you can't now print multi-colour materials. But business has gone up
due to the elections," said Kedar Adhikari, Director of Aabritti. But
creative designing promotional content for social media and other online
publication have secured a good amount of business.
Although the formal
campaign for the March 5 elections for the House of Representatives (HoR) will
begin from Monday, political cadres and candidates have begun to hold their
meetings to discuss their strategies and increase public relations, and manage
materials for it. In the course, they have created a business for local
businesses.
Economists have
estimated that about Rs. 150 billion is likely to be mobilised during the
upcoming elections. While it will not make long-term contributions to the
economy, it will make the market vibrant in the short-term.
Hotels and cafes, food
producers and distributors, printers and designers, transportation services,
fruit and vegetable producers, and tailors are witnessing a significant rise in
their business across the country.
Our Saptari
correspondent Binaya Karna reported that there has been a notable rise in the
businesses of restaurants, printing, groceries and printers. "The number of customers at tea shops, snack outlets and eateries has
increased after political parties and candidates’ teams began visiting
villages. From morning until evening, snack sales have doubled compared to
earlier," said Sagar Sah, a snack shop operator from Rajbiraj
Municipality-7.
Likewise, there has also been a notable rise in the printing of election
campaign materials. Increased orders for posters, pamphlets, banners and flags
have created employment not only in printing presses but also in paper supply,
ink production and design services.
The transport sector has likewise benefited
from the election. With increased movement of candidates and their supporters,
the use of jeeps, motorcycles and e-rickshaws has risen across Tarai. In
addition, increased consumption of local vegetables, fruits and other produce has
encouraged farmers. As their produce is being sold in the local markets, they
are getting good price.
Rs. 150 billion's election market
According to economist
Keshav Acharya's rough estimates, about Rs. 150 billion will be injected into
the market during the election period – about Rs. 33 billion from the
government, and about Rs. 15 million from each of the 3,406 candidates filing
their candidacy, and also a significant amount from the political parties and
supporters.
Meanwhile, voters also
make economic contributions through their travels, lodging and fooding as they
travel to their home-town to cast votes.
Although the Election
Commission (EC) has put a ceiling on the candidates' expenditures with a
mention of different expense titles, the past practice has shown that many
candidates put a lot of money into their campaign way beyond the limit. "I
spent about Rs. 15 million in one-and-a-half months before the general
elections in 2022 but my competitor spent almost Rs. 40 million and secured
victory," a Nepali Congress leader who lost 2017 elections shared in
condition of anonymity.
Some top leaders from
the major political parties have long been complaining that the elections have
been expensive while some of them turned away from contesting elections.
Nepali Communist Party
(NCP) Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had said publicly a few years
ago that it had become very difficult to win an election without a thick purse.
Likewise, CPN-ULM leader Prithvi Subba Gurung had said that the actual election
expenses are way above that reported to the EC.
In 2020, then Nepal
Communist Party leader Ram Karki had said that it's impossible to win the
election without spending about Rs. 250 million. He even went on to say that he
was ready to sell his post of the lawmaker if anyone would pay for his expenses
made during the election campaign. NC leader Dr. Shashank Koirala said that he
spent almost Rs. 60 million in 2017 elections.
"It is true that
a few independent and fringe party candidates will spend a small amount during
the election, most of the candidates enter the election frays with sound
financial planning and backing," said Acharya.
According to a
reporting on the monitoring of the election candidates' campaign expenditures
during 2017 elections conducted by Samuhik Abhiyan, 57 per cent of the
candidates spend more than the limit prescribed by the EC while 90 per cent of
them reported significantly lower figures in the expenditure statements
submitted to the EC compared to the costs tracked by the monitoring project.
Likewise, more than
two-thirds of the candidates exceeded the expenditure limits within the
individual prescribed categories.
Major election
expenses are made on transportation, food (including meat, vegetables and
fruits), fast food, flex and printing, house rental, digital marketing and
content creation.
Former Finance
Minister Surendra Pandey said that the election market is comprised of two
aspects – election market and candidates' market, and both have to be managed
financially.
A short-term
economic uptick
Experts also say that
the Rs. 150 billion spent during the elections make an impact worth Rs. 300 to
Rs. 400 billion as it quickly moves from consumers to producers to raw
materials suppliers to importers. Likewise, election is the occasion when there
is a country-wide expenditure and local economy is also strengthened for a
while.
A large amount of it
moves out of the country. Diesel, petrol and other petroleum, fruits, mutton,
flex materials, rice, pulses, spices and clothes are imported. In addition to
that, many candidates in Tarai region use Indian vehicle and send the money out
of the country in rental payment. Election expenditures from the parties and
candidates are likely to contribute to about Rs. 5 billion to government
revenue, according to Acharya.
But these economic
activities don't leave a long-term impact. Most of the money spent locally
quickly moves to the market and economic centres in the major cities.
Especially, increased cash-flow quickly evaporates from the smaller towns and
market areas.
Illegal money makes
its way to market
While many economists
and election experts openly said that the illegally owned money comes into the
market during the elections, former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that
could be true in case of few candidates. "I don't think that black money
is brought into the market during elections. Many candidates crowdsource their
election expenditure and collect a significant amount," he said.
However, he didn't
deny of interest-backed support from some businesspersons who wish for the
policy influence in their favour. Such financers pay less attention to the
small parties and candidates and pay directly to the parties and their top
leaders. Prachanda once had lamented that since his party's size shrunk
significantly, no businessman was willing to offer them financial support or
donations.
But Acharya said that
this is the season when illegally amassed money makes it way to the market
which is good for the local and national economy.
Use of money is
directly related to the integrity of candidates and political parties. It's
also about power of ideas versus power of money which has its impact on
post-election corruption.
Election or political
financing also has its connections with possible money-laundering, indirect
promotion of smuggling and corruption. Economists say that more money can
finance more propaganda and advertising, thus, manipulating public opinion in
the short-term.
Crowdsourcing in
practice
Leader of the NCP,
Lekhnath Pandey, who is contesting election from Gorkha Constituency 2, said
that he is planning to spend less money than the limit prescribed by the EC
which is Rs. 2.9 million. "I don't maintain two accounts. I am set to set
a national standard that you can manage your election activities at a modest
cost," he said while adding that his estimated spending is about Rs. 2.4
million.
This budget doesn't
include the expenditures made by the party leaders and cadres in managing food,
snacks and rally expenses for him.
Many candidates from
the major political parties, including the new ones from the Rastriya Swatantra
Party (RSP), have begun crowdfunding their elections. Many of them have
appealed people in and out of the country to donate small amount of money in
order to make them able to finance their election.
Pandey is raising Rs.
100 to Rs. 1000 from his party members and well-wishers. However, party members
or supporters who run a business and who are employed abroad provide additional
support as well.
According to leaders,
those who offer financial support to the candidates remain loyal to them during
the elections with many of them campaigning in their favour. Campaign period
should be reduced to a maximum of 10 days to two weeks in order to bring down
the election expenses by the candidates and political parties.
Effort to control
expenses
The EC has issued
fresh directives for the first time mandating the candidates to accept
donations in their bank accounts and make expenditures from the same account. But
in absence of robust tracking mechanism, its implementation is under scrutiny.
Now, political parties and candidates are
required to conduct all election-related financial activities through dedicated
bank accounts to ensure transparency and traceability. All transactions must be
made in Nepali currency using formal banking instruments.
Donations above Rs. 25,000 must be
deposited into the campaign account, while those exceeding Rs. 100,000 require
full donor identification and tax details. The EC has prohibited funding from
government bodies, government-linked entities, public limited companies,
educational institutions, NGOs, foreign sources, and anonymous donors. The
measures aim to regulate campaign financing, prevent illicit funding, and promote
accountability and transparency in the electoral process, said the EC.
According to the directives, the chief of
the relevant Treasury and Accounts Controller Office has been tasked as the
Election Code of Conduct Monitoring Officer. But they lack the system and
equipment for monitoring and tracking the candidates' expenses.
Spokesperson of the EC, Narayan Prasad
Bhattarai, said that the election body will strictly implement the code of
conduct and bank account procedure.
He also maintained that candidates and
parties not adhering to the prescribed procedure would be punished. "Even
a general punishment like publishing notice about their malpractice and a small
fine can create awareness in the voters so as not to vote those candidates
again," said Bhattarai.
However, civil society members say that
there should be strict measures to those going against the code of conduct such
as punishment like restriction from contesting elections and scrapping
candidacy.
Digital transaction is
a likely solution.
"If we could make
all transactions digital and track the expenditures digitally, reckless
expenditures by the candidates could be checked," said Pandey while adding
that until the physical currency continues to circulate in the market,
controlling would be tiresome. All transactions should be cashless, he said.
Digital transactions
and its thorough audit will bring the candidates of various economic hierarchy
to the same level.
There should be policy
reform for the digitalisaiton of election expenditures, maintain comprehensive
details of the properties of the candidates, and record procurements made by
the parties and candidates, suggested Pandey.
Experts also suggested
for third-party monitoring as the EC doesn't have human and logistic resources.
Integrated efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance,
the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and the intelligence
agencies, and crowdsourcing of information about malpractice and misuse of
money can be effective.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 February 2026.
