KATHMANDU: Despite one of its own central committee members and former Minister for Information and Communications, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, being suspended from his parliamentary position over a corruption case, the ruling Nepali Congress has remained conspicuously silent.
It has already been a week since Basnet’s parliamentary status was suspended following a corruption case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), yet the party has not issued any formal statement.
In contrast to the vocal stance Nepali Congress leaders had taken earlier regarding the suspension of former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, they have remained tight-lipped on Basnet’s issue.
Meanwhile, Basnet has received a grand welcome in his home district of Sindhupalchok, where he defiantly stated that no one can prove him guilty of corruption.
Some younger leaders from the anti-establishment faction, including those aligned with General Secretary Gagan Thapa, had previously demanded Khand’s suspension.
The party’s student wing, Nepal Student Union, had even organized protests in Kathmandu. However, the party took no formal action, and Khand has since returned to active politics.
In contrast, when CPN-UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi was implicated in the same refugee scam, the UML promptly suspended him from the party and parliament.
Even as several Congress MPs raised the issue of Basnet and another lawmaker, Maya Rai, during a parliamentary party meeting on May 15, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba reportedly downplayed the situation, stating that “such things are normal in politics” and citing past instances of leaders being jailed.
Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire defended the party’s inaction, claiming that legal procedures must run their course.
“There is no need for the party to make any decision. His suspension was carried out by parliament under legal provisions, not by the party,” said Ghimire.
According to the party’s statute, Article 13 (Clause ‘nga’) states that party membership is revoked only if a person is convicted of a criminal offense involving moral turpitude by a final court verdict.
Basnet and 15 others have been charged by the CIAA at the Special Court with corruption over irregularities in the procurement of the Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (Teramox).
The total claim amounts to Rs 3.21 billion. As per the Anti-Corruption Act, his suspension from parliament was automatic.
With this case, Basnet joins the list of high-profile Nepali Congress leaders facing major corruption charges, including Khum Bahadur Khadka, Chiranjibi Wagle, Govinda Raj Joshi, and Bijay Kumar Gachhadar.
Despite the gravity of the case, the Nepali Congress appears reluctant to take a strong stance, raising questions about its commitment to transparency and accountability in governance.
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