Oli's Harsh Words Lead to Leader's Collapse During Bagmati Government Talks

Kathmandu. On Monday evening, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli summoned 17 lawmakers from Bagmati Province to his private residence in Gundu, Bhaktapur, to discuss the Chief Minister of Bagmati Province. After Oli's summons, the leaders who were called on time reached Gundu. The subject of discussion was the formation of the Bagmati Province government. A discussion began at around 8 PM among Oli and other leaders in Gundu. During the discussion, the issue of needing to bring other parties on board arose, as UML and CPN alone did not have a majority to form the government. In that process, Jagannath (JN) Thapaliya, who was assured of being the future Chief Minister, had expected support from the center to secure a majority. UML Bagmati Province Chairman Kailash Dhungel and UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet were also present in the discussion. However, according to one leader, the atmosphere there changed when Chairman Oli displayed extremely insulting behavior towards Thapaliya, a leader from Chitwan and the parliamentary party leader of UML Bagmati Province, who was seen as the future Chief Minister, during the Gundu discussion. Coincidentally, the situation did not turn into a major accident. According to sources, in a meeting with Secretary Basnet and leader Dhungel, Chairman Oli, accusing Thapaliya of failing to do concrete homework for the formation of the Bagmati Province government despite the understanding for so many days, reprimanded him in an insulting manner using phrases like 'How does he earn a living?'. Unable to tolerate Oli's low-level speech and reprimand, leader Thapaliya collapsed on the spot where he was sitting. After Thapaliya fell and became unconscious, leaders including UML Bagmati Province Vice-Chairman Dawa Dorje present there had to sprinkle water on him. It was almost midnight when this incident occurred. After Thapaliya collapsed, he was immediately taken to Madhyapur Thimi Hospital in Bhaktapur. 'After Comrade Thapaliya was reprimanded, he fell,' said a lawmaker present at the Gundu discussion. 'A responsible leader was treated worse than a worker. He collapsed unable to bear to hear that.' According to that leader, Oli had previously stated that Thapaliya would remain the leader of the Bagmati Province parliamentary party. However, on Monday evening, Oli changed his statement again. 'You haven't been able to do anything so far. You haven't been able to build consensus with other parties,' said another lawmaker present, quoting Oli. 'Now make Kiran Thapa the parliamentary party leader.' During that time, Oli stated that Thapa could also secure support from RPP and that Thapaliya's inability was due to his incompetence. 'Now, whoever can gain trust will be given the opportunity,' Oli said, and as JN Thapaliya began to respond after this, he collapsed in tears. 'He collapsed as soon as he started to speak, unable to bear the humiliation,' said another leader. 'He is going to Bir Hospital today.' Provincial Chairman Kailash Dhungel, who participated in the Gundu discussion, said that discussions were held about the parliamentary party leader needing to conduct the necessary discussions for the formation of the Bagmati Province government. However, Dhungel tried to hide the fact that Thapaliya had collapsed. 'The Chairman's statement is that the party leader should take the initiative required for government formation, so do that,' Dhungel said. However, he pretended not to know about Thapaliya's collapse. 'I didn't know he had collapsed,' Dhungel said. 'When I inquired in the morning, he was at his usual residence.' According to the agreement between UML and CPN, UML was supposed to lead the government in Bagmati. However, the number of lawmakers from UML and CPN alone is not enough to form the government in Bagmati. Even with UML and CPN combined, two more lawmakers from other parties are needed to form the government there.