Indeed, we have crossed one milestone after another: the restoration of parliament, a ceasefire, the comprehensive peace agreement, the UN involvement in arms management, the interim parliament, the interim constitution, and amendment to that constitution after prolonged agitation in the tarai.

There are several more steps to go before we reach the final phase of this process which is the election for an assembly to draft a new constitution.

Parliament has to pass requisite electoral legislations and an interim government with the Maoists has to be formed. From experience, we know that cobbling together a 7+1 government will be a messy affair, but its broad parameters have already been agreed upon by GPK and PKD.

Aside from all this, there is also an end-game being played out on the future of the monarchy. And this is what will make the coming weeks even more critical than they would otherwise be, what happens (or doesn't happen) this month will determine what kind of future, if any, there will be for the ruling dynasty.

As our top dogs fight over the bone, what they forget is that in the absence of elections, legitimacy doesn't come from radical slogans but from service delivery.

A recent public opinion poll showed that the Nepali people are much more concerned about health, education, and jobs than about whether Nepal remains a monarchy or not. And the counter-bandas in the eastern tarai this month prove that people are sick of being punished for power struggles among the mighty.

The seven-party alliance may have transformed Nepal's state structure in the past year, but it has been a dismal failure in ensuring development. Preoccupied with politics and negotiations, leaders forgot the people who had given them a second chance in April. They had all the power, but never exercised it and they couldn't get the government machinery cranked up to prove that democracy could bring dramatic improvements in the lives of the people.

The new government better understand that people can't eat slogans. Populism is oversold, and most Nepalis have a different set of priorities than Singha Darbar.