Kathmandu, Sept 8: After the brutal suppression of the Gen Z protest that left at least 19 dead, pressure mounted on Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak to resign. The pressure came not only from outside but also from within his own party, the Nepali Congress, forcing him to step down.
Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had called an emergency meeting of party officials on Sunday, attended by Lekhak as well. According to a participant, Lekhak briefed the meeting on the day’s events. General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, along with former General Secretaries and ex-Home Ministers Bimalendra Nidhi and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, advised Lekhak to resign, taking moral responsibility for the deaths and injuries caused by the protest crackdown.
Following the advice, Lekhak assured the leaders that he would submit his resignation after attending the Cabinet meeting. He then left Deuba’s residence and headed to the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar.
Leaders also reminded him of earlier failures, including the inability to manage security during the royalist protest on Baisakh 15, where excessive force caused major casualties. They pointed out that during the recent curfew, the army did not arrive at the protest site for two hours, and there was no sign of coordination among ministries. This, they said, raised serious questions of responsibility.
The decision to ban social media without prior discussion in the party also drew objections. Leaders argued that if the government had withdrawn the decision on time, the current situation could have been avoided.
At the same meeting, General Secretary Thapa demanded the formation of a high-level commission to investigate corruption scandals since 1990.
After Monday’s incident, Congress leaders and workers intensified pressure for the party to quit the government. On social media, anger has been directed at both Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Home Minister Lekhak. Senior leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala also declared that the current government had lost its legitimacy as of today.
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