With his recent comments on Indian businessman Sardar Pritam Singh, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal courted controversy, but he is not the first Nepali PM to find himself in such a predicament.
Sardar Pritam Singh, known as Nepal’s first trucking entrepreneur, is credited with improving Nepal-India relations, according to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who spoke at a book launch event for the title Roads to the Valley: The Legacy of Sardar Pritam Singh in Nepal on July 3.
Dahal said, “He [Singh] had earlier tried to make me the prime minister. He made many trips to Delhi and engaged in lengthy negotiations with Kathmandu’s political elite in order to install me as prime minister.
The comments have sparked a controversy and received backlash from a number of sources.
On Wednesday, the National Assembly’s session was interrupted by the largest opposition party, the CPN (UML), which demanded the resignation of the prime minister. The gathering was moved to Thursday, July 6 at 1:00 PM.
Similar to how the opposition parties — the UML, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party — disrupted the HoR meeting over Dahal’s comments, the HoR meeting has been postponed till 3 pm on Friday, July 7.
UML MP Raghuji Pant remarked, “The prime minister should resign on moral [grounds],” during a meeting of the lower house. A prime minister selected by Delhi is not necessary.
The governing parties have also voiced their displeasure with his comments, in addition to the opposition. “The prime minister’s comments ought to be criticized. He made incorrect statements, Bishwa Prakash Sharma told reporters following the House’s meeting on Wednesday.