Kathmandu, 10 April (Hindustan). The leaders of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), the fourth largest party in Nepal’s parliament, on Monday accused each other in the House after the audio of Dhakakumar Shrestha demanding Rs 2 crore from the party leadership to become a minister went viral. The matter was also debated in Parliament on Monday.
Nepali Congress Deputy Chairman and Member of Parliament Dhanraj Gurung said in Parliament that RSP President Ravi Lamichhane’s core team should be probed for demanding Rs 2 crore to become a minister. He demanded to form a parliamentary committee for this.
RSP MP Manish Jha challenged his party president Lamichhane to confirm that money was taken to make him a minister. He accused the Nepali Congress leadership of taking eight crore rupees to make him the education minister. Pointing towards Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arju Deuba, he said, “We also know what the brother-in-law has taken.”
In Parliament, RSP MP Santosh Pariyar said audios used to go viral earlier as well and national parties should stay away from such incidents.
Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha said that the audio tapes would be investigated. When asked by reporters on Monday in Chitwan district, he said that action will be taken after investigation.
RSP has already said that it will proceed further after investigating the audio matter. However, RSP President Ravi Lamichhane has expressed apprehension of releasing the audio before the parliamentary by-elections. He said that this matter is being used as an election weapon through social media.
The secretariat of accused MP Shrestha has claimed that the voice in the audio is not his. It has been termed as a conspiracy to take the political future towards darkness.
By-elections are being held on April 23 for three parliamentary seats in Nepal, in which the RSP has fielded popular candidates. It is being speculated that the issue of audio may affect the election.
