Off The Record (Spotlight Weekly)

Stop Traffic

Stopping the traffic at the main street seems to be an only agenda of four agitating parties. Following the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as the prime minister, people of the valley had heaved a sigh of relief as major political parties had withdrawn from the street agitation. After nearly four months, four parties backed by Nepali Congress is once again leading the crusade against King’s move - just by blocking the traffic at the main city. Overcrowded by the huge number of vehicles, the city’s traffic, which is already in trouble, has worsened further with the announcement of new agitation package. From Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala to other two radical communist leaders Narayan Man Bijukchhe and Lilamani Pokharel, all are busy demonstrating in the middle of the streets during rush hour.

Deuba’s Modality

Prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is said to be in difficult times as he has to manage four political parties together before he can take any decision. From the appointment of general manger to the transfer of departmental heads in the government offices, prime minister Deuba has already set the quotas of the parties in accordance with their strength in the dissolved House of Representatives. Whether in sending delegation to the United Nations or taking delegation in his own visit, Deuba has clear stand. Choose the persons not on the basis of qualification or contribution but on the basis of loyalty towards the party. Expert on running big governments in the past, prime minister Deuba is applying similar kind of power sharing modality in everything he does.

Truce In RPP?

After launching a strong crusade against the party president Pashupati Sumsher Rana, former prime minister and senior RPP leader Surya Bahadur Thapa is nowadays maintaining silence in all the issues. Those who are close to Thapa know that silence of Thapa could be more dangerous. Whenever Thapa maintains silence, he comes to the main stage of politics. Whether in the referendum of 1979 or resignation of Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Thapa’s silence paid off. During those two occasions, Thapa was picked up to lead the government with almost free hand. In his last tenure as a prime minister, Thapa ran the country with the tiniest council of ministers. Nobody knows what Thapa’s next move will be.

Mysterious Silence

The CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has lowered the volume of his voice. After prime minister Deuba’s return from his visit to New Delhi, UML strongman Nepal has suddenly shut his mouth. Till a month ago, Nepal was very much vocal against the government. His recent silence seems to be mysterious. Since he is unpredictable, nobody knows when he will again burst out against the government participated by his party.

Heal The Wounds

Deputy prime minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary, who always used to demand big compensations for any kind of loss to anybody, seems to have realized how difficult it is to generate the resources. In his recent interactions with manpower companies – which are demanding the appropriate compensation from the government – finance minister Adhikary clearly said that his government is in no position to compensate to the manpower companies as per their demand. Deputy prime minister Adhikary – who claims himself to be a true Marxist and Leninist, reminded the manpower agencies about his new Mantra of compensation by narrating the story of Sudhama (a friend of Krishna). In the words of Adhikary, it is healing rather than any compensation for damage that is more important. Unfortunately, nobody understands the difference between healing and damage compensation.

Sujata In Race

Koirala: Winning over the party!

Although some of her party colleagues and relatives stopped her from contesting the elections for the Nepali Congress Central Committee membership, Sujata Koirala, daughter of Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala seems to be making trouble for other leaders in the party. By taking part in all the party activities, Sujata has shown that she knows how to mobilize the people. From agitation front to social activities, Sujata's activities are a cause of concern to her party colleagues.