Within days of Shah assuming office, former prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday in connection with the deaths of students during last year’s Gen Z-led revolt, an episode that had come to symbolize the angst of Nepal’s youth against the old political establishment.
Nepal’s new leadership has acted on a probe into protest violence, ordering arrests of top former officials as accountability questions intensify over deaths during the Gen Z movement crackdown.
Oli was taken into custody from his residence in Gundu, Bhaktapur, while Lekhak was arrested earlier the same morning from his residence in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur.
With two of four seats declared and leads in 101 constituencies out of 165 where direct elections are held, the newbie RSP party led by former Kathmandu Mayor Balendra 'Balen' Shah looks set to form the government
On 5 March, nearly 19 million citizens of Nepal will vote to choose a new House of Representatives.
But with Oli engineering the defection of the vice-chair and persuading another powerful member to sit on the fence, the balance has shifted.
Now, with his back to the wall, he seeks to appeal to his Hindu countrymen, to deflect attention, once again, from his own predicament.
'The Prime Minister's remarks that India was conspiring to remove him was neither politically correct, nor diplomatically appropriate,' former prime minister 'Prachand' said.
Nepal has been under lockdown since March 24 after the second COVID-19 case was reported.
Reacting to the development, the Nepal Foreign Ministry expressed “regret” and maintained that all territories east of Kali River, including Lipu Lekh, where India had constructed the road, “belongs to Nepal”.
