The mayors of Kathmandu, Balendra Shah (Balen Shah), and Dharan, Harka Raj Sampang Rai (Harka Sampang), are fed up with the federal government and the members of parliament who are elected from their respective metropolises. Balen Shah is the mayor of Kathmandu metropolis, whereas Harka Sampang is the mayor of Dharan sub-metropolis.
Earlier, Balen and Harka had some kind of clash due to their egos, and their cold war was reflected on their social media. When Harka Sampang visited Kathmandu after being elected as mayor, he was not welcomed by Balen Shah, which made him disappointed at the time. Also, Harka Sampang commented on the work of Balen Shah for making Kathmandu neat and clean, which made Balen Shah disappointed. Both of them were making statements about each other on social media.
Table Of Content:
- Balen Shah vs. Prachanda
- Why is Balen aggressive with Prachanda?
- Why is Prachanda afraid of Balen Shah?
- Why is Harka Sampang aggressive?
But now their cold war has ended, and this was possible, not to save their chair or position. They are united to some extent in developing their respective metropolises. Both of these mayors are more focused on the development of their metropolises, and for that, they are seeking help from the federal government and parliamentarians. But both of them have not received the appropriate support, which has made them aggressive towards the federal government.
Balen Shah vs. Prachanda
Mayor Balen Shah has officially announced that the garbage management in Singhdurbar and the Prime Minister’s residence will be stopped until the Federal Government and respective ministers provide support to the Kathmandu Metropolitian. Balen Shah, who used to satirize the Federal Government and senior leaders time and again, has this time mentioned the reasons why he is aggressive towards the Federal Government and why he took this bold decision of stopping garbage management at Singhdurbar and the Prime Minister’s residence.
Balen Shah was seeking support from the Federal Government on the garbage management system of Kathmandu, managing the houses at the roadside, the drinking water issue, and other security issues in the metropolis. According to Balen Shah, he has met with the respective ministers several times, and he also had a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda). However, the Federal Government is unwilling to support metropolises.
Balen Shah also mentioned that to clean the city, political leaders should be dumped in Sisdol, and his statement went viral on social media. The political leaders of the ruling party have commented on Balen’s statement that he is crossing his limit. Whereas the leaders of the opposition party are in support of Balen’s statement.
Why is Balen aggressive with Prachanda?
Balen Shah wanted to complete the garbage management of the metropolis within a year. For that, he has also declared that until he completes the work of garbage management, he won’t face any interviews. And within one year of being elected, he was unable to complete the waste management, due to which he has been the subject of controversy time and again. And he is completing his first year this month as mayor of Kathmandu.
According to the source in Kathmandu Metropolitian, “Mayor Balen Shah has done various small changes in Kathmandu Metropolis, but his major agenda is to complete garbage management within a year, and it was possible too. But the federal government keeps changing, which has really affected implementing his plan. He wants to show the result, but he is not getting support from the government. And without the support of the Federal Government and political parties, it is not possible to complete the task. So he is aggressive towards the government.”
Why is Prachanda afraid of Balen Shah?
After the decision of Mayor Balen Shah, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) has not taken any initiative towards fulfilling Balen Shah’s demand. Neither has he taken any steps toward discussing his demands with Balen or making Kathmandu’s metropolis neat and clean. Rather, Prachanda’s government has objected to Balen Shah’s statement.
Prachanda’s cabinet’s ministers have tried to contact Balen Shah for a meeting, but Balen Shah has clearly mentioned that he will sit on a meeting until and unless the Minister of Home Affairs won’t be participating. And to date, the Minister of Home Affairs has not approved a meeting with Balen Shah. Prachanda has not shown any interest.
In this situation, neither Prime Minister Prachanda nor Mayor Balen Shah can go against him because he has a large social media following and Prachanda does not want to go against him. And he can’t fulfill all the demands of Balen Shah right now as he is under political pressure from leaders of the ruling party. So Prachanda is not able to take a bold decision or fulfill the demands of Mayor Balen Shah.
Why is Harka Sampang aggressive?
Now let’s talk about Harka Sampang Rai’s statement. Harka Sampang’s first and major agenda was to solve the drinking water problem in Dharan. For that, he has been in action since his first day as mayor. And he is continuously working, as we can see from the photos and videos he has been posting on his social media.
He has recently demanded to include the Koshi water project for Dharan on the upcoming budget, and if the members of parliament of his metropolis can’t do this then he won’t allow them to enter Dharan. He has openly challenged the members of Parliament and the Federal Government to include the Koshi water project for Dharan in the upcoming budget and support his work. He has posted the status on his social media, and Balen Shah has shown support.
Both are in the mood to put pressure on the federal government, and their methods are similar. Both of them had a meeting last month when Harka Sampang visited Kathmandu. Both of them had shared photos of their meeting on their respective social media handles.
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