Home Minister Sudan Gurung came under criticism during a secretariat meeting of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) held on Saturday.
Secretariat members expressed the view that the home minister should be asked for clarification over the arrests of journalists for merely writing news reports.
According to sources who attended the meeting, secretariat members who do not hold government positions, including Deepak Bohara, said that the home minister should be asked for an explanation because the Prime Minister’s Office had already denied any involvement in the arrests.
“There was a discussion in the meeting along the lines of recalling Sudan Gurung from the government,” a secretariat member told Setopati. “Until the very end of the meeting, secretariat members maintained that the home minister should be asked for clarification.”
However, Joint General Secretary Asim Shah, who is also the prime minister’s chief adviser, argued that since the government is headed by the RSP itself, it would be more appropriate to issue a directive to the government as a whole rather than single out a particular minister.
As a result, the wording of the decision referred to directing the government, rather than specifically mentioning the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to sources.
Following the meeting, the RSP issued the following decision:
“Some activities said to have been carried out through the police administration in the media sector on October 30, 2026, are contrary to the Constitution and the party’s core ideals. The Rastriya Swatantra Party directs the government to immediately identify and investigate the persons who issued irresponsible orders and take strict action against them.”
During the RSP meeting, the possibility of disciplinary action against the home minister was raised because it appeared that he had been aware of the police deployment to arrest journalists.
Party Vice-president and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, along with Asim Shah, briefed the meeting on the government’s involvement in the arrests.
According to sources, Shah told the secretariat meeting that the police chief had told Kuman Ben, the prime minister’s chief adviser, that news reports suggesting he was about to be removed from his position had done him “injustice.”
Ben reportedly responded, “Then you should fight for justice yourself, shouldn’t you?”
Shah maintained that the Prime Minister’s Office had no involvement whatsoever in the arrests of the journalists.
According to sources, Wagle also defended the government during the meeting, saying that he had spoken with both Ben and the home minister about the arrests and that the government had not instructed anyone to arrest the journalists.
After Wagle and Shah maintained that the operation had not been carried out on behalf of the government, the question of seeking an explanation from the home minister was raised.
They also said that a statement issued by the Nepal Police Headquarters the previous day was itself threatening in tone and that the matter required an investigation.
According to sources, party Vice-president Sobita Gautam also said during the meeting that activities by other ministries were making it difficult to carry out their work and that the public was raising questions about the government’s actions.
