NEPAL is in the midst of a major churn with the arrival of Mr. Balendra Shah, aka Balen, as its 47th Prime Minister. The 35-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party leader is being seen as a changemaker the country wants after the unprecedented uprising triggered by Gen Z last year. He began with a symbolic message by assuming office on the auspicious day of Ramnavami and releasing his latest song ‘Jay Mahakali’ a day before the swearing-in ceremony. However, the bigger message came a day after the celebrations when the Balen government arrested former PM and Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist Mr. K P Sharma Oli.

 

The police also arrested former Home Minister Mr. Ramesh Lekhak in connection with handling of the Gen Z protest. Within hours, Mr. Balen Shah has delivered a solid message to the old guard in Nepal politics, pushing the country to an interesting curve. The arrest of Mr Oli and Mr. Lekhak is seen as the clean-up job promised by the rapper-turned-politician to the Gen Z voters in Nepal. Interestingly, the order to arrest the CPI-UML duo was signed by a Gen Z Home Minister, Sudan Gurung. It has changed the atmosphere of jubilant celebrations into protests by Mr. Oli’s supporters, handing the new government its first major challenge. The old guard will be highly skeptical of Mr. Shah’s next move as many of them had been targeted during the Gen Z uprising for alleged corruption and governance failure during their regimes. The Prime Minister has acted upon recommendation of the Gaur Bahadur Karki Commission of Inquiry which submitted its report to the previous interim government two weeks ago. The Karki Commission has held Mr. Oli and Mr. Lekhak guilty on charges that also included murder during the Gen Z protests. If Mr. Shah has decided to follow all the recommendations of the panel then much more political upheavals are on cards in Nepal. The next move by the former Mayor of Kathmandu will be watched with keen interest by the world. For, the Karki Commission report has already been termed controversial in Nepali politics.

 

Experts have flagged the Karki report for going beyond its terms of reference. It has, reportedly, dabbled into judiciary’s role and also issues on Nepal-India border. The last reference is of great curiosity for India as border issues had taken a serious turn a few years ago when the then government made cartographical changes to show many Indian territories like Kalapani and Limpyadhura as Nepal’s own land.

 

The move had led to diplomatic tensions between Kathmandu and New Delhi after the new map was released in Nepal. Whether Mr. Shah is willing to rake up the same issue will decide India’s response to his wish of “eagerly working with India” which he has conveyed to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. India should not jump the gun even if the young PM decides to leave out pragmatism in forging future relations. New Delhi has seen it all and will allow the new government in Nepal to settle in the office as a stable lawmaker.