President Bidya Devi Bhandari has dismissed Province 2 Governor Tilak Pariyar and replaced him with Rajesh Jha (Ahiraj) on recommendation of the Cabinet on Friday.
When the Cabinet recommended dismissal of Pariyar and appointment of Ahiraj has yet to be revealed.
The President's Office issuing a statement revealed that Pariyar has been fired on recommendation of the Cabinet as per Article 165(1b) of the Constitution which states the post is vacant 'if her/his term comes to an end or is removed by the President before the end of the term'.
"I have received a letter from the President's Office. It only mentions the Article of Constitution and does not mention why I have been removed," Pariyar told Setopati after his dismissal. "They may have removed me as I was appointed on quota of the erstwhile Maoists."
He claimed that he had been working as a neutral and knew of no grievances from the government. "I had even gone to receive the PM when he came to Janakpur. There is no question of going to the dais and giving a speech," he added. "No one had relayed dissatisfaction to me until now."
He was appointed Province 2 governor on November 4, 2019 on recommendation of the CPN secretariat meeting.
The posts of provincial governor were shared between the then CPN-UML and Maoists after the two parties united to form CPN. Pariyar, Amik Sherchan (Gandaki) and Sharmila Panta (Far West) were appointed on Maoist quota.
Pariyar is a former Maoist leader who was elected to the First Constituent Assembly from Banke. He had quit the party to join that of Mohan Baidya and was also in the group led by Netra Bikram Chand. He had later returned to the Maoist party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal which eventually unified with the then CPN-UML to form CPN.
Sources close to Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli have told Setopati that Pariyar has been removed to send a message to the Dahal-Nepal faction. "There are messages from some incidents," a member of PM Oli's secretariat confided. "Those who have been appointed from their faction may have been working well even in remaining provinces."
The Dahal-Nepal faction, which knew of the dismissal when its central committee meeting was going on at Paris Danda, is obviously miffed with the decision and Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal called it another step in the series of regression and setting while speaking in the meeting.
Standing committee member of the Dahal-Nepal faction Ram Chandra Jha claimed that the phone audio of General Manager of Nepal Railway Guru Bhattarai that was revealed a few days back is to blame for Paryar's dismissal. Jha contended that Pariyar has been fired as the person who was on the other side of the abusive audio where Bhattarai claims to be Oli's son is in the governor's secretariat.
