The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has cautioned its own parliamentary whip, Krantishikha Dhital, over a social media post.
RSP Chief Whip Kabindra Burlakoti cautioned Dhital over a Facebook status in which she had questioned the government’s handling of the squatter management process.
Squatters staying at a holding center in Kirtipur were given a five-day ultimatum on June 22 to leave the facility. They were later given a second notice allowing them one more week to leave the holding center.
After food supplies were stopped from the morning of July 6, the squatters were left stranded. That evening, Dhital questioned and criticized the decision on Facebook.
“The tears of the squatters flowing on the streets today should hurt us all. Managing the squatters was very necessary. But was it done according to our manifesto? Is this what a guardian state looks like? This work was not carried out with the sensitivity, planning, and responsibility with which it should have been advanced,” she wrote. “All it did was expose the state’s weakness and incompetence of the state.”
A few days after Dhital wrote the post, the holding center was inundated on the night of July 10, leaving the squatters in distress. Their food supplies, clothes, and even children’s books were damaged by the flooding.
However, it has now emerged that the RSP sought to take disciplinary action against the lawmaker who questioned the management of the squatters.
According to sources, Chief Whip Burlakoti told Dhital that “it was not appropriate to write about the issue on Facebook instead of raising it with state mechanisms.”
An RSP leader said that the party had initially been preparing to seek a written explanation from Dhital but ultimately only issued her a verbal warning.
“Chief whips and whips are party office-bearers. Rather than criticizing the government like lawmakers, they should take initiatives to solve problems,” the leader said. “Since the party is also in government, it is not good for it to appear that there are two different lines.”
According to sources, however, the reason for warning Dhital was an internal rivalry between two factions within the party.
“Those close to Prime Minister Balendra Shah apparently suspected that Dhital’s post might have reflected the party president’s line,” a source said. “Then the party president himself apparently said that such a message should not be sent. She was then questioned and discussions were held with her.”
When Setopati asked Dhital about reports that she had been asked for an explanation, she denied them.
“It is false that I was asked for an explanation,” Dhital said. “I also now feel that, instead of writing the post at the time, I should have raised the issue with the government.”
Signs of growing distance between the government and the party have emerged as RSP lawmakers have begun taking a critical stance toward the government’s working style.
Lawmakers including Prakash Pathak, Prakash Chandra Pariyar, and Jagadish Kharel of Dolakha raised questions about the government.
As lawmakers began criticizing the government, PM Shah has recently adopted a policy of meeting and holding discussions with them. However, some lawmakers say they have still not been able to meet the prime minister.
“Meeting the prime minister is out of the question. The people at his secretariat do not even respond to our phone calls,” an RSP lawmaker said.
Dhital, however, said that her Facebook post should not be linked to any party leader.
“When a woman lawmaker expresses an opinion, she is often linked to another man,” Dhital said. “Because of the patriarchal mindset that women cannot have independent views, they are viewed with suspicion.”
After lawmakers elected from the RSP began criticizing the government, the prime minister’s secretariat has also adopted a policy of responding to lawmakers on a ministry basis.
