How did Durga Prasai get this far?

Durga Prasai is a businessman and a rabble-rouser, whose singular mission is to upset the existing political system. Before the government banned TikTok, his rants against politicians, particularly from the CPN-UML—with which he was briefly associated with—were hard to miss. 

Now Prasai is leading a campaign to get rid of the existing political system and restore monarchy and Hindu state. His group is due to organize a mass rally in Kathmandu today. To make this show of strength a success, his group has been working for months setting up an office at Koteshwor, adjacent to the Maoist party office. 

Prasai’s team members claim thousands of people from around the country will be attending the rally. The group has reserved hundreds of private buses to transport the rally participants and booked more than two dozen party venues in Kathmandu Valley for accommodation.  Authorities in Kathmandu are on high alert, particularly after UML’s Youth Wing has also planned to take out a rally of its own. Tensions have been shimmering between Prasai and UML for some time now, and the security agencies are trying hard to prevent them from clashing.  

Prasai has announced that they will continue to protest until their demands are addressed. Their demands are wide, from restoration of monarchy to exemption of bank loans and reimbursement of deposits to the victims of fraud microfinance firms. Sources say Prasai and royalist forces are preparing to organize a series of protests and they have funneled in large amounts of money to keep their campaigns running.  

Organizing a mass rally in Kathmandu is a costly affair. According to one Nepali Congress leader, it costs at least Rs 30 million to organize a mass rally in the Capital city. So, who is funding Prasai? A member of Prasai’s campaign team says Prasai himself will foot the majority of expenses. But this claim is far from convincing, as Prasai himself has stated publicly that he is struggling to pay the interest on the loans he has taken from several banks. 

Some say Prasai organized the campaign with the express purpose of lowering the bank interests which he is unable to pay.  Another source of money for Prasai’s costly campaign is said to be a group of industrialists and business persons who wish to get rid of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government. As Prasai is also campaigning for restoration of monarchy and Hindu state, some royalist sympathizers have also funded the campaign through personal donations. 

Many royalist forces, including some leaders of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, have publicly said that they will be offering moral support for Prasai.  A source privy to Prasai’s campaign tells ApEx that the group has pooled sufficient funds from multiple sources.

Prasai has also amassed a large supporter base by offering them unrealistic hopes. Many of these supporters include the victims of fraud micro-finances, cooperatives and loan sharks. Over the past year, thousands of loan shark victims and people who lost their savings to fraud cooperatives have been staging protests in Kathmandu, pleading with the authorities to help them get their savings back. With the government unable to fully reimburse the victims, Prasai has rallied them behind him by promising to return their lost money. 

Prasai has also pledged to his supporters that loans up to Rs 2 million will be written off if his campaign succeeds. Then there are those people who have been hit hard by the current economic recessions. They too are supporting Prasai, hoping that his campaign will set the country’s economy right. 

It is clear that the people who are supporting Prasai are desperate to get out of their financial predicament. It is also clear that Prasai is simply exploiting them to fulfill his own vested interests. 

Hinting at Prasai, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday said that the government will not tolerate any act of anarchy. 

But Prasai seems bent on carrying on with his way as an agitator. He has also been emboldened by the sheer number of his supporters. It is because of his supporters that Prasai has been delivering provocative and objectionable statements during public events without caring for consequences. 

One particular case involves Prasai making derogatory remarks against the Marwadi community. There is another case filed against him with the Dhanusha District Police Office for playing the old national anthem at a program organized by a Hindu outfit.

Over the past few months, Prasai’s primary target has been CPN-UML and its Chairman KP Sharma Oli. He has made several unfounded allegations against Oli and UML. 

As Prasai has been going after the UML, says one politician, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has allowed him to attack the main opposition party and its leaders. But now that Prasai is organizing a mass rally in Kathmandu, he says the prime minister is fearful that the street protest could go out of hand, even remove him from power.

UML Chairman Oli has blamed the Dahal government for creating a conducive environment for regressive elements. He has sternly demanded the prime minister to either suppress them or quit the government.

A senior Nepali Congress leader claims Prasai is being used by some internal and external forces to bring back monarchy after the Rastriya Prajatantra Party failed to do so.

But some observers say Prasai is popular because there are many people in Nepal who have grown immensely frustrated with the major political parties. Prasai’s anti-establishment position resonates with a large section of the masses. In many ways, say observers, the political parties of Nepal are responsible for creating a figure like Prasai.