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Pokhara, June 16. When the Supreme Court sacked Chief Minister Khagraj Adhikari and ordered the appointment of Surendraraj Pandey, there was euphoria within the Gandaki Congress. They were happy that a Congress government would be formed in the state in alliance with the UML and the Maoists.
After the government was formed and the budget was presented, Congress MLAs from various districts and Kaski came to the Pokhara Hall where Chief Minister Pandey was sworn in. Congress leaders and workers congratulated each other. However, all attention turned to outgoing Chief Minister and UML Congress Party leader Khalji Adhikari when he appeared at the swearing-in venue.
Khagraj Surendra and two ministers remained part of the programme throughout the swearing-in ceremony despite his dismissal by the Supreme Court. He congratulated Chief Minister Pandey and left only after the event.
Khagraj’s actions are the exact opposite of the bitter relationship that leaders have with changes in government and the culture of not attending oath-taking ceremonies.
Since the federal system was implemented, Gandaki Province has undergone its sixth change of government and appointed four chief ministers. However, party leaders, MPs and chief ministers who have stepped down did not appear at the swearing-in ceremony. Khagraj attended the swearing-in ceremony and shook hands with Pandey to congratulate him.
Opposition leaders and MPs did not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prithvisubba Gurung, who was appointed as the chief minister on January 29, 2074. On June 29, 2078, when Krishnachandra Nepal Pokharel became the UML chief minister to overthrow the government, Prithvisubba did not take the oath but congratulated him over the phone.
In the second term of the federal system, Khagraj Adhikari became the chief minister on December 25 last year with the support of the Maoists and the Patriotic Party. Pandey, who had planned to become the chief minister himself, did not take the oath. Even Khagraj did not take the oath of Pandey, who was appointed on Baisak 14.
Surendraraj, who was at the center of the power alliance, resigned on the 21st and Khagraj assumed the office of Chief Minister on the 25th. However, it was taken for granted that Congress leader Surendra, who was preparing to take himself to court for using the Speaker’s vote, would not take the oath. Even after the confidence vote, the Speaker decided in favor of Khagraj, holding that 30 people were a majority, and Surendra again approached the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court had ordered the removal of Khagraj and the appointment of Pandey. Many have expressed interest in Khagraj, who took part in the swearing-in ceremony after taking office on Wednesday. He was also accused of using the speakership against the spirit of the Constitution, but Khagraj argued that some clauses needed more explanation in the volatile parliamentary politics.
After Surendra’s victory, Khagraj tried to make it clear that he would not be a permanent friend or politically if he attended the oath-taking. Along with Khagraj, the leader of the Maoist Parliamentary Party and former minister Hari Bahadur Juman also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
“In any case, it is an example of political culture that the outgoing chief minister attended the swearing-in ceremony and congratulated him,” said Vindukumar Thapa, director of the Department of Social Development and Energy, Water Resources and Drinking Water, in response on Wednesday.
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