KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala has strongly objected to the proposal to fast-track a controversial land bill while a sitting minister implicated in a corruption case remains in office.
Koirala raised serious concerns after the CPN-UML proposed that the Land Bill be passed through a fast-track process, a move he claims is deeply problematic given the involvement of current Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Minister Balaram Adhikari in a high-profile bribery case.
Adhikari has been linked to the Pokhara land scam which involves allegations of illegal land transfers and the exchange of hefty bribes. Despite mounting criticism and calls for accountability, Adhikari has not stepped down.
This stands in contrast to Rajkumar Gupta, another UML minister also implicated in a separate bribery case, who recently resigned from his post as Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration following public and political pressure.
“The UML’s proposal to fast-track the land bill while one of its tainted ministers remains in office has raised serious suspicions,” Koirala wrote in a public statement. “These two issues, the bill and the graft scandal, cannot be treated separately.”
Koirala further stressed that such actions undermine the democratic principles and good governance that the opposition Nepali Congress expects from the current government. “This is not the kind of governance we envisioned or demanded from the ruling coalition,” he added.
The Nepali Congress leader called for thorough deliberations on the bill in Parliament and demanded an impartial investigation into all individuals linked to the Pokhara land case, including ministers, lawmakers, government officials, and brokers.
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