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Donor Couple CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal is among the rare Nepalese politicians who have the generosity to donate their property to their party. At a time when everyone is trying to plunder public money for the sake of their family, the leader of the main opposition party has shown that he has a big heart. But this generosity has also surprised many. How did Nepal, the son of an orthodox Hindu priest from Rautahat district, accumulate property in the capital in the name of his wife, Gayatridevi? Nepal, who likes to portray himself as an anti-corruption crusader, may want to disclose how he got that land. He should not worry about what the chattering classes might say as long as party workers continue to hail him as the champion of the poor. Perhaps he can even go on accumulating assets to donate to the party. State Of Denial
Whoever holds the prime minister’s post, Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s personal secretary, Dr. Narayan Khadka, has his own job cut out for him: issuing statements. After Sher Bahadur Deuba constituted his 13-member cabinet, Dr. Khadka hurriedly issued a statement clarifying that none of the ministers belonged to the Bhattarai camp because the septuagenarian had not given Deuba any names. People like Chiranjibi Wagle, Bal Bahadur K.C. Gopal Man Shrestha, Sarat Singh Bhandary and P.L. Singh, who are in the new cabinet, fought tooth and nail to oust Girija Prasad Koirala under Bhattarai’s patronage. Why is Bhattarai distancing himself from his disciples now? PM’s Chair
When officials at the Prime Minister’s Office at Singh Durbar saw a lady enter the room of the head of government, they were understandably surprised. When they found out that the lady was none other than Dr. Arju Deuba Rana, wife of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the officials knew what they had to do: follow her. Dr. Deuba, a professional psychologist, ordered officials to reposition the prime minister’s chair making it face east, instead of south. Nobody knows the precise reasons why Dr. Deuba, a granddaughter of Rana Prime Minister Juddha Sumshere, did that. But she must have had valid reasons. After all, no prime minister has completed his full term in office with his seat facing the south. The following day, when some ministers saw their boss’s room rearranged, there was momentary panic, until the chief secretary provided a briefing. Deuba's tenure would depend on all kinds of calculations — celestial, political and directional.
Marxist Parliament Nepal’s members of parliament have a history of making and breaking records. In the last 12 years of multiparty democracy, our MPs have visited different countries to observe how all kinds of parliaments function. Surprisingly, this time, a group of Public Account Committee members visited North Korea. The choice of North Korea is understandable, as the chairman of the committee Subash Chandra Nembang is a communist ideologue. Nembang’s party aims to turn Nepal into a communist state and a crash course on how North Korea’s legislature operates would come in handy. Where’s the next destination, Cuba? |
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