KATHMANDU, July 17: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chief Whip Gyanendra Shahi has launched a sharp criticism of the KP Sharma Oli-led government, taking aim at the Prime Minister’s controversial ministers amid fresh corruption allegations.
Referring to PM Oli’s past remark that he “would not even look at the faces of corrupt individuals,” Shahi sarcastically questioned whether the Prime Minister had turned his back during the recent cabinet meeting.
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“The Prime Minister once declared he wouldn’t even look at corrupt individuals,” Shahi wrote on Facebook on Thursday. “Did he then sit facing the other way during the cabinet meeting?”
Shahi’s remarks come in the wake of leaked audio recordings allegedly implicating two sitting ministers in corruption scandals. Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajkumar Gupta resigned last Tuesday following controversy over such allegations. However, he was still present at Monday’s cabinet meeting.
Similarly, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation Balram Adhikari is also facing scrutiny after an audio recording surfaced in which he is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 3.2 million.
Continuing his criticism, Shahi took a swipe at the government’s earlier attempts to curb online discourse. “The KP Oli government, which once tried to ban social media, might now consider banning phone calls — because it’s through phone recordings that the ministers’ corruption is being exposed,” he said.
