KATHMANDU: Nagarik Unmukti Party Chairperson and former Minister Ranjita Shrestha has strongly denied allegations linking her to a recent bribery scandal involving outgoing Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta.
Shrestha, who previously held the Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation portfolio, responded on Sunday to news reports that named her alongside Gupta and an alleged middleman in a multi-million rupee bribery deal related to land appointments and staff transfers.
She described the reports as “deliberate and baseless attempts to assassinate her character and discredit her party.”
“The land commission appointments and employee transfers mentioned in these reports fall outside of my jurisdiction and have no relation to me or my party,” Shrestha said in a statement. “Publishing such person-specific headlines without any factual basis is a clear attempt to defame me and the Nagarik Unmukti Party.”
Emphasizing her party’s core values, Shrestha said, “Nagarik Unmukti Party is firmly committed to transparency, good governance, and zero tolerance for corruption. We urge authorities to conduct a fair and factual investigation through legal channels.”
Recent viral reports allege that Shrestha and another individual acted in coordination with Minister Gupta in negotiating a bribe amounting to Rs 7.8 million. The controversy culminated in Gupta’s resignation on Tuesday, following mounting pressure from the public and opposition parties.
Shrestha, however, maintains that attempts to link her to the bribery scandal are politically motivated and an unjustified attack on her integrity.
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