KATHMANDU: Former minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Ram Kumari Jhakri has stirred controversy after making a disparaging remark against Prime Minister Sushila Karki, saying the PM ‘does not have the status’ to talk with former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
In an interview with journalist Tikaram Yatri, Jhakri was responding to a question about reports that Oli had symbolically invited Karki to visit Balkot.
She remarked sarcastically, “He (Oli) said ‘come to Balkot,’ meaning ‘come see what you made of your own ashes.’ Does anyone really think Oli would go meet Sushila Karki? Does she have that kind of stature to summon people for talks?”
She also added, “Would KP Oli go to give a statement to Gauri Bahadur Karki? Even Tikaram Yatri wouldn’t go, let alone me. How could Sushila Karki have the position to make Oli speak to her?”
Her remarks, widely seen as disrespectful toward Nepal’s first woman Prime Minister and first woman Chief Justice, have triggered strong backlash across political and civil society circles.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) central member Khushbu Oli criticized Jhakri sharply, writing on social media, “How can someone who insults the country’s Prime Minister in such a manner preach political ethics to others? This is not just a personal insult—it reflects the moral and cultural decay of our politics.”
She added that Jhakri had previously made demeaning comments against former President Bidya Devi Bhandari as well, calling such behavior a symptom of arrogance and democratic decline.
Women’s rights activist Amrita Lamsal also endorsed Oli’s criticism, saying the statement represented a deeper problem of gender bias masked as political rhetoric.
Journalist Anjali Subedi commented, “Jhakri’s outer image may seem bold, but her inner reality is a mixture of arrogance and subservience, a rare combination. Such comments don’t just slip out.”
Another social media user, Roshan Siwakoti, wrote, “Ram Kumari now has no choice but to flatter KP Oli. The media made her a leader, but her real ability goes only as far as throwing stones at the police.”
Keshav Sapkota, meanwhile, questioned the Prime Minister’s silence, saying, “When a sitting PM refuses to respect state institutions and says she won’t respond to a commission formed by the government itself, what kind of governance is this?”
Born from a student activism background, Jhakri rose to prominence during the 2006 People’s Movement and became the first female president of ANNFSU, the UML’s student wing. She later served as a proportional representation MP and briefly as a minister.
Known for her fiery and often confrontational style, Jhakri has remained a controversial figure in Nepali politics, from publicly criticizing former President Bidya Bhandari to being caught in a leaked audio threatening a bureaucrat.
Observers say her latest remark against Prime Minister Karki reflects both her combative personality and the deepening polarization within the leftist political spectrum.
Critics argue that Jhakri’s language reflects a growing erosion of civility in Nepali politics. As Khushbu Oli wrote, “To call Nepal’s first woman Prime Minister ‘without status’ is not only arrogance, it is an insult to the democratic values and the dignity of women in leadership.”
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