BABBLES

By Babbler

When the sitting prime minister of the country tries to manipulate the election by influencing voters, it reflects how a free and fair election is being conducted in Nepal.

Reports state that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had gone to Dadeldhura to cast his vote, was distributing five thousand rupees to each voter, that too during the silent period, and his security personnel were helping Deuba in distributing money.

The silent period on the eve of the voting is considered as the time to influence voters by the candidates by distributing money. Other candidates were also distributing money to influence the voters.

A trend has been established in Nepal. The political leaders pay money to the party to get the election ticket and also ensure victory by distributing money on the eve of the election. After being elected, the candidate will start to collect money through corruption and commission. The very leaders say elections have become expensive.

Income-expenditure account of the government

In the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year 2022/23, the capital expenditure of the federal government was only 6.91 per cent compared to the annual target. According to the data of the Controller General’s Office, the government has spent only Rs.26.3 billion on capital expenditure till 31 October.

The slowdown in the government’s income is more worrying than the expenditure. In the first quarter (July-October), the revenue income of the government has been limited to two trillion 68 billion. This is around 19 per cent of the annual target.

If such a trend will continue, surely, we should understand that the government is compelled to take foreign loans to meet its expenditure in operating federalism. How long should we run this expensive system by taking foreign loans?

Two candidates for the PM’s post have already been elected

There are half a dozen candidates for the post of prime minister. Out of them, two candidates have already got elected as members of the House of Representatives. They are Prakashman Singh and Gagan Thapa. Thapa has even developed a roadmap that what will he do after becoming the prime minister.

Other candidates are also leading positions in the election race from different constituencies. Now, it seems difficult for Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to manage those half a dozen candidates eying for his post.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

• Rabindra Mishra: One may like him, one may dislike him, but no one can afford to ignore him.

Dhruba H. Adhikary, senior journalist

• Central and local governments are enough. There is no need for provinces. I believe that provinces have become a political recruitment center and a scheme to trap people in debt.

Balen Shah, mayor, Kathmandu Metropolis

• Binod Chaudhary is the person who should lose the election. No example is enough in describing how much he has exploited the labourers. He is a notorious person.

Sanskriti Gurung

• Winning and losing is part of the process. I congratulate Prakashman Singh on his win. I have tremendous respect for Rabindra Mishraji who fought a tough battle against all odds! No doubt he is among the most deserving candidates. He would have added a new perspective and fruitful debate in the parliament.

Manisha Koirala

• According to the preliminary reports of the election, the presence of ‘criminals’ in the Parliament is expected to decrease a little! After trampling the sentiments of the people in a democracy time and again, the time comes for the people to show up.

Surya Raj Acharya

• Since observing the referendum in 2037 till date, based on the experience in all the elections, there was no election of such extreme disappointment as of today.

Lokesh Dhakal, NC leader

• The wave of time is ‘kicking’ political inertia. But not only by ‘kicking’ now, ‘hands’ will be raised until the next election. And the worst time of politics will be over.

Muma Ram Khanal

• The initial vote count has shown that the people who are fed up with the old political parties are in favor of change and the people are nobody’s pawns.

Om Thapa

• Hello journalist,

When will you stop dancing naked in the Nepali language? Can those who talk about the rules violate them in language?

(Indicating spelling errors on a statement issued by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.)

Kritika Tharu

• Blood donation saves lives, voting saves the country.

Thank you to everyone who voted for the change!

Dr Toshima Karki

• If the daughter can cast her mother’s vote when the mother is in hospital, then why can’t the Election Commission allow the families of all the Nepalese abroad to cast their votes?

(Referring to the incident of casting vote by Ganga Dahal on behalf of Sita Dahal in a constituency in Chitwan, who is hospitalized in Kathmandu.)

Shambhu Shah

• The initial vote count result indicates that the government coalition has completely failed. The Maoists are no longer decisive in politics.

Arjun Gyawali

• People have not accepted the provincial structure, they want the abolition of the provincial structure. The problem is the constitution.

Nandan Prasad Adhikari

• The Maoists should have been abolished in the previous election, which could not happen because of the role of two big parties, but the bell rang.

Congress and UML will survive this time, but it will be their turn to be finished in the next election.

Public outrage is the result of not understanding public sentiment.

Aryal Mukti

• A complete ban on all INGOs/NGOs in the country is necessary.

Sarbesh Aryal

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