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Champa Devi Karki of CPN (Maoist Center) was almost sure to win the National Assembly election as one of the ruling coalition candidates from Koshi province. But she lost the Jan 25 vote to CPN-UML candidate Rukmini Koirala. 

Maoist leaders now claim that Karki lost because of the betrayal of trust by the Nepali Congress. They say although the Maoist party voted for NC candidate Krishna Prasad Sitaula, there was a significant crossing of the floor  by the NC voters. 

Though the Maoists emerged as the largest party in the NA after the election held to select 19 upper house members, the party is unhappy with the poll outcome from Koshi.

It is said that NC senior leader Shekhar Koirala, who is earnestly working to break the Maoist-Congress alliance, influenced the voting pattern of the NC. Earlier, the Koirala faction had switched to the UML to elect Kedar Bahadur Karki as chief minister after NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba fielded his candidate. It was later revealed that there was a secret understanding between Koirala and Deuba in the appointment of chief minister, which miffed the Maoist party. 

That was the first instance which sowed the seed of discord inside the ruling coalition. The latest election betrayal in Koshi province has deepened the mistrust between the Maoists and NC.  

"We have reached a point where we have to seriously review our alliance with the Nepali Congress,” says Maoist leader Barsha Man Pun. “In every election, we have been voting for NC candidates, and in return, we are being betrayed. The Koshi province election has forced us to think whether the current coalition is beneficial for us.”  

What happened in Koshi province is not the only reason why the Maoist and NC are growing apart. It began with the arrest of senior NC leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal.

Many NC leaders suspect that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Center is weaponing corruption scandals against the NC leaders while overlooking the misdeeds of the leaders within his own party. 

NC senior leader Koirala has always been vocal about changing the current coalition and forging an alliance with the UML. Of late, more and more leaders are joining the chorus. They want to remove Dahal from power because they feel that his government has not been good to the NC. Even though the Maoist Center has only 32 seats in the House of Representatives, making it the third largest party, NC leaders believe the Maoist party is becoming overbearing in the government affairs — even bullying the NC and UML by opening investigation into past corruption scandals involving their leaders.   

Meanwhile, the Maoist leaders claim it is the NC that has been dictating the government’s decision-making process including in the foreign policy realm. A senior Maoist leader says the NC has tied the hands of Prime Minister Dahal, so that he is unable to make independent decisions. 

The Maoist party is particularly displeased with Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud from the NC. “The Foreign Minister has failed to strike a balance among the three major powers because he and his party are biased towards India and the US.” 

During his China visit, Prime Minister Dahal made some commitments regarding the Belt and Road Initiatives and other projects, but there has been little to no follow through on those pledges. The Maoists blame the NC-led Foreign Ministry for this. 

Maoist leaders say Prime Minister Dahal wants to sign the BRI implementation plan at the earliest, but the foreign minister has not been cooperative.  

Some NC leaders believe that the only reason the NC-Maoist coalition has not fallen through is because Deuba wants to ensure a smooth transfer of power. They say the party president is of the belief that he can get to power only if Dahal is allowed to remain in power for two and a half years. 

Though there are strong voices inside the NC that the party should not forge an electoral alliance with Maoists in the next general elections, Deuba is of the view that without an alliance the NC alone cannot maintain the status of the largest party. 

However, Deuba does not see the similar prospect in forging an alliance with the UML. He is of the view that there cannot be an electoral partnership between first and second parties. The NC regards the UML, which has a strong organizational base, as a key election rival. 

In the past, the UML had even reached out to the NC, proposing an alliance deal between the two parties to ensure the government’s stability until the next elections. But Deuba was not keen to talk with the UML. 

As the Maoist-NC coalition teeters on the brink, the UML watches from the sidelines. UML Chairman Oli, who had previously made his mission to win a single party majority in the 2027 general elections, has been hinting at mid-term elections in recent days. Oli senses the simmering tension within the ruling coalition.

Prime Minister Dahal is likely to face more political challenges from his own coalition partner and the opposition in the days ahead. The UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party are already planning to hit the streets against the government. The last thing Dahal wants is an unruly coalition. 

Various trade unions have demanded action against those police personnel who assaulted immigration officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Issuing a joint statement on Sunday, the trade unions demanded that the government take action against them within three days.

The police personnel had assaulted immigration officials during the security check at the ‘walk through’.

The trade unions showed their displeasure saying that the employees are becoming unsafe from police.

They have warned to halt all the services across the country including at the Tribhuvan International Airport if the guilty are not taken action.

“We will be forced to halt services at all the offices including at the Tribhuvan International Airport immigration office if the police personnel involved in the incident are not taken action within three days. We will also be compelled to announce the phase-wise protest programs,” the statement reads.

The trade unions have also condemned the incident where police personnel, who were deployed to protect the people, attacked the officials who were providing services at the workplace.

Chairperson of Nepal Civil Service Organization, Nepal Civil Servants Union, Nepal National Employees Organization, Integrated Government Employees Organization and Nepal Madhesi Civil Servants Forum among others mounted pressure on the government by submitting a joint memorandum.

The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday submitted a report of the recently held National Assembly (NA) election to President Ram Chandra Paudel.

The NA election was held in all seven provinces on January 25 to elect 19 NA members. 

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya submitted the report amid a function in the President House, Sheetal Niwas.

Spokesperson at the Office of the President, Shailaja Regmi Bhattarai, said that the EC submitted the report on National Assembly Election, 2080 along with the election result as per the clause 60 of the NA Election Act, 2075 BS. 

Election Commissioners Ram Prasad Bhandari, Dr Janaki Kumara Tuladhar, Sagun Shumsher JBR and Secretary Surya Prasad Gautam were present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Patan Academy of Health Sciences to manage challenges seen in the health sector.

Addressing the 12th Assembly of PAHS here today, he urged the office-bearers of the Academy to develop additional infrastructures and make the hospital's services of quality and effective.

The PM said development and prosperity is not possible until the common citizen is healthy, stressing on the need of making quality and accessible health services accessible to all citizens.

"The country's economic and social transformation is possible when the citizens are fit and healthy," he said.

Stating that it is the best initiative on the part of the Academy to provide community-based services, the Prime Minister, who is also the Chancellor of PAHS, suggested that the Academy should further make its programmes stronger by incorporating similar programmes.

He said, "I want to draw the attention of the Ministry of Health and Population to forward such types of programmes from other academics and educational institutions."

Stating that most of Nepal's territory is occupied by rural areas, PM Dahal pointed out the need of expanding health service access to rural level by producing skilled health workers motivated by the spirit of social responsibility in order to provide quality healthcare service in rural areas.

He explained, "I direct the Academy to improve its services so as to benefit significantly the citizens who are lagging behind in the human development index and have less access to quality health services." 

Prime Minister Dahal lauded the contribution of Patan Academy of Health Sciences in the overall health sector including health service, health education and carrying out health related scientific research.

Minister for Health and Population, Member of National Planning Commission, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City and Vice-Chancellors of different academies were present on the occasion.