What we know of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu Valley</a>’s history is mostly through epigraphs, the engraved inscriptions scattered around the Valley that document important events. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">These are mostly found above ground.</a> But underground, there is much more to be discovered about the waves of civilisations that thrived and waned in Kathmandu Valley over the past millennia.&nbsp; The fertile soil of the former lake bed was the source of Kathmandu's agricultural surplus and, along with its <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/putting-dolkha-back-on-the-map,3312">entrepôt status between India and Tibet</a>, a source of its wealth. The same soil also hides clues to the Valley’s past, but many of these archaeological sites are now built over with concrete houses and asphalt roads. &nbsp; The first exploration of Kathmandu Valley’s prehistory was carried out by R V Joshi but it did not yield any palaeolithic or microlithic relics. In 1965, S B Deo carried out an excavation in Manamaneswor near Hadigaon and Lazimpat that showed the earliest habitations were in the ‘early centuries of the Christian era’. But further digs by the Department of Archaeology (DoA) did not show new evidence of habitation. Then the DoA, with an Italian team from Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO) jointly organised excavations and surveys in Hadigaon. The excavations at the Satya Narayan temple dated the earliest habitation of Kathmandu to the first century BCE, much earlier than previously thought. Now, the results of the expedition from 1984-1989 have been published in the new book Harigaon Revisited: Chronicle and Outcomes of an Excavation in Kathmandu by Giovanni Verardi with Dániel Balogh, Daniela De Simone and Elio Paparatti.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet</a>, Sahina Shrestha The idea to revisit the 80s excavation and turn it into a book came as IsMEO itself was closed down. Its documentation of excavations, particularly the graphic and photographic materials, were archived at Museo Nazionale di Arte Orientale in Via Merulana, Rome. In 2016, the museum merged with Museo Nazinale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, Rome, to form the new Museo delle CiviltàIn Rome where a large part of the documentation is kept, ‘waiting to be rearranged and usable’. While much of the book is technical results of the excavation, the first part provides a narrative of the fieldwork from a personal point of view of Giovanni Verardi, an archaeologist and Professor specialising in the civilisations of central Asia and India who was appointed the Director of the Nepali-Italian Archaeological Mission in 1988.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240301120340_3db207944131f4fef141161c056760bae59f887b0d2337048c88791638422335.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240301120340_3db207944131f4fef141161c056760bae59f887b0d2337048c88791638422335" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="794" loading="lazy" alt="Hadigaon"> <figcaption>The inscribed water conduit donated by Priyavarman in 749 AD.</figcaption> </figure>  Verardi remembers a different Kathmandu from today and says he found Nepali people to be "kind and cooperative" but the Ministry was "strict and severe" about the excavation. The team was obliged to write a daily report about their work and submit it to the DoA every afternoon. &nbsp;“Kathmandu back then was different,” said Verardi over the phone from Italy. “I returned to Nepal after many years in 2007/8 and then again two years ago, and was surprised by the transformation. I did not expect it to change so much.” Verardi spent a few months travelling across the Valley visiting old sites like Gokarna and Thankot with the Director General of DoA. With epigraphical inscriptions and Lain Singh Bangdel, then with the Royal Nepal Academy, identifying images found in Hadigaon to second century CE, the Satya Narayan temple seemed promising. Large areas were limited in number but Hadigaon was large enough for the team to conduct horizontal excavations to see if different kinds of buildings came out and they did get interesting results, like 898kg of ceramic materials. They were mostly broken pieces of pottery but 213 of them were intact vessels.&nbsp; More interesting were a Mathura-type sandstone fragments which were later determined to be a training weight. It depicts a scene of Lord Krishna slaying a horse demon Keshin. A water drain bearing the inscription dated 4 March 749 that says that one of the ancient names of the place was Andigrama, donated by Priyavarman to honour his deceased parents. The team also exposed a nine-pit structure which was named navakunda. Among the scholars who visited the site were Dhanavajra Vajracharya who had published Licchavikalaka Abhilekha and Prayag Raj Sharma, professor of history at Tribhuvan University who had assisted S B Deo during the excavation at Manamaeswor.&nbsp; It was not until Verardi came across a Mahayana silpa text, the Manjushrivastuvidyasastra, that it was established to be a part of a Buddhist stupa. The team found a few antiquities that were recognisable as Buddhist. One was a ‘conical sealing that on the bottom exhibited a stupa and an inscription in Licchavi characters’. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/restoring-a-piece-of-nepal-s-history">Restoring a piece of Nepal's history</a>, Sahina Shrestha &nbsp;Another was the handle of a terracotta lamp showing Aksobhya, one of the five Wisdom Buddhas. The book also dedicates a section to the restoration of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-historic-kathmandu-beneath-our-feet">Jayavarma statue which was found by chance in Maligaon in 1992</a>, near the Hadigaon excavation site. Elio Papparatti of the Nepali-Italian team restored the statue from twenty-three fragments and also made it earthquake proof. The statue is now housed at the National Museum. These and other discoveries clearly put Hadigaon as a place of archaeological and historical significance.&nbsp; But like much of Kathmandu, Hadigaon is also built up. While archeological finds were still being unearthed when digging foundations of new houses until a few years ago, the government has shown little interest in preserving the area for future research. Verardi says not all is yet lost. “There are still small areas where it would be possible to excavate in Hadigaon,” he says. "We already have a sequence so it would be much simpler to excavate compared to the 1980s.” &nbsp; Harigaon Revisited is an important documentation of an excavation that provide historical evidence that pre-date the earliest dates mentioned in known inscriptions. While some may argue that archaeological digs may be unnecessary given other inscriptions found in the Valley, the Hadigaon excavations demonstrated that the history of the Valley was much earlier than those dated by epigraphical evidence.&nbsp; Perhaps the only way for us to actually understand the real sequence of the earliest history of Kathmandu is through excavations. This book, though technical, will be useful for anyone interested in learning the prehistory of Nepal.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240301120348_0e24ad7a92ef531466fb81ccd66ced772e6e8bedcdb6b2879d7342e1f71f422c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240301120348_0e24ad7a92ef531466fb81ccd66ced772e6e8bedcdb6b2879d7342e1f71f422c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1218" height="643" loading="lazy" alt="Hadigaon"> </figure>

Sahina Shrestha

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

What lies below Hadigaon

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204489c7e80680e0b2853jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMSI</figcaption></figure>In late December 2021, social and mainstream media in Nepal was abuzz with news of the discovery of a stone slab in Patan Darbar Square area that contained ancient inscriptions.Labourers working on the sewage system in front of the Bhimsen Temple came across the 1.5m high shilalekh in a layer of clay below cement pipes.At the top of the inscription were two deer facing a Dharma Chakra, indicating it to be a Buddhist engraving. A team led by epigraphists Shyam Sundar Rajbanshi and archeologist Prakash Darnal studied the inscription and the area, and have determined it to be around 1,400 years old. Rajbanshi says, the inscription mentions the date Licchavi Sambat 536, which corresponds to 613 CE.“It talks about a bihar built by Brish Dev and renovated by Amshuvarma,” explains Rajbanshi, taking the names of the Lichhavi-era kings. “Normally, inscriptions are kept in the periphery of the monuments, so it is probable that the structure was in that area.”When the inscription was unearthed, the glaze over it was gone and parts of the inscriptions were damaged by mud and cement, rendering it difficult to read. What is surprising is that it was installed using cement, meaning that there must have been an intervention in recent years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372044c9c7e80680e0b2854jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Whoever did it must have known about its existence and yet chose to bury it under the ground. This is also an important part of our history, and it was buried for so long because of past carelessness,” says Rajbanshi.While studying the area, Darnal also found a wall that may be of archeological interest just 1.4m below the recently dug site. “Whether it is of the bihar or not is difficult to say without proper study but we have noted that it is of interest,” he says.Over the centuries, successive dynasties that ruled Kathmandu Valley left behind a legacy of palace complexes and temples, of which many from the Malla era are still standing. But very little is known about the earlier phases of Kathmandu’s history, especially subsurface archeological heritage.Recent <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhas-birthday-in-his-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">excavations in Lumbini</a> have uncovered pre-brick structures below standing remains, which suggest that before the development of non-durable buildings there were already structures with non-fired bricks present.Experts say that is also likely in Kathmandu Valley with its historical settlements and the presence of inscriptions dating back to the 4th century CE. Historical chronicles also state that sites like Pashupati were built as far back as the 3rd century, suggesting that there may be more to uncover below these ancient sites. But unplanned and haphazard urbanisation in Kathmandu, and the lack of political and community will are destroying our past.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhas-birthday-in-his-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buddha's birthday in his birthplace</a>, Nepali TimesIn his travelogue,<a href="https://books.google.fr/books?id=EzIDSAdG-wgC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;hl=fr&amp;source=gbs_ge_summary_r&amp;cad=0#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> An Account of Tibet The Travels of Ippolito Desideri of Pistoia, S.J. 1712- 1727</a>, Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri who visited Kathmandu in 1721, mentions a plain stretching two miles (believed to be Tundikhel) near a pond. He writes, ‘There are many pyramids, or towers … dedicated to their Gods.’If it is indeed Tundikhel that Desideri describes, there are only two of the ‘many’ temples remaining in the vicinity, the Bhadrakali temple in the eastern side and the Mahankal temple on the western edge. Others may have been destroyed or buried over the years,  the remains of which may still be around.“Ground levels in cities rise overtime as new structures are built over the rubble of older ones that have collapsed or been abandoned  due to various reasons like fire or in case of Kathmandu Valley, earthquakes,” explains Rohit Ranjitkar of the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT), who did his PhD in heritage restoration.The Pantheon in Rome was built on the site of another structure built around 27 BCE, but was destroyed in a fire. It was restored around 80 CE, but was again burnt to the ground after being struck by lightning 30 years later. It was later restored in 128 CE. Much of this information is found through painstaking archaeological work and historical records.The centres of other European cities like Athens and Pompeii also have carefully preserved sites for archaeological digs.In Kathmandu, the dabali across the Nautale Darbar, Basantapur has two chaitya more than 1m below current ground level. In front of the Kumari Ghar in Kathmandu Darbar Square, workers came across the finial of a <a href="https://youtu.be/w6oor-FChfs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chiba</a> while building a road 15 years ago. This finial is still visible and the area has been encased in metal bars. These sites have also shown how the ground level has risen in Kathmandu over the centuries after being built over.Ranjitkar says the dabali was actually a part of the palace before the 1934 earthquake. The houses there were damaged, but instead of repairing them, the palace complex was restructured, leaving the area open to make it easier for Prime Minister Judda Shamsher to manoeuvre his car. There were other <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the Darbar Squares</a> after the 1934 earthquake.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu's temple restoration after 1934 quake</a>, Sahina ShresthaKathmandu Valley has a history of earthquakes every 60-70 years. Early history of the Valley has been known from textual sources like inscriptions from 4th century CE onwards, manuscript colophons after 8th century CE, and archives like the <a href="https://archive.org/details/GopalarajaVamsavaliDhanavajraVajracaryaAndKamalP..Malla/page/n7/mode/2up">Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī</a>.  These chronicles provide a regular recording of earthquakes including those in 1224, 1255, 1260, 1344, 1408, 1618, 1767, 1823, 1833, 1834, 1869, 1916 and 1934 – and prove the contention of seismologists about the Himalayan tectonics. While the accounts of earlier earthquakes are generalised, there are more details available for the earthquakes of 1833 and 1934.After the 1934 earthquake, the Bhandarkhal garden in the backyard of Patan Darbar was used to deposit debris from the palace complex and nearby areas. For years, no one cared to clean up the rubble and the garden lay dilapidated as the palace itself was used for government offices.When <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2011/04/05/797/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KVPT was working to restore the Bhandarkhal pond</a> in Patan Darbar Square in 2009, it discovered that the ground level of the area before the 1934 earthquake was much lower. The pond was in a dilapidated condition. There was a brick wall on the upper level that was built after the 1934 earthquake to contain the debris deposited in the garden. While working on the pond the team discovered the original base of the outer wall of the pond.“This gave us an idea of the historic pre-1934 ground level, so we cleared up the entire garden to preserve that,” says Ranjitkar. One can see how high the ground was after the 1934 earthquake by looking at the trees. The team built a substructure to support and preserve the trees that had grown over the raised area. While clearing up the debris, they also discovered ancient stone artefacts currently kept in the Patan Museum garden.Even after the restoration of pre-1934 level, one can see more layers underneath which could contain relics of debris from previous earthquakes. Says Ranjitkar: “When we excavated in Bhandarkhal garden, we found pockets of structure made of stone that were bigger than the ones that were in use at the time. This shows that there is a lot to learn about Kathmandu’s subsurface heritage.”After the 2015 earthquake, a team from Durham University in coordination with UNESCO and the Nepal government, conducted Ground Penetrating Radar Survey and geo-archaeological analysis of the three Darbar Square areas of Kathmandu Valley. It was determined that Kasthamandap which was thought to be a 12th century structure was actually built in the 7th century. The team also found that in all three palaces the subsurface level had been intruded by modern utilities like water, sewage and electric cables.The team has produced a provisional risk map of all three palace complexes highlighting possible archeological sites. The report has highlighted some areas in red as High Risk where there should be no intrusive development whatsoever.  Yellow areas are Moderate Risk where construction  should be avoided if possible, and Low Risk where development can take place but should be as non-intrusive as possible and fully reversible (see box).After the 2015 earthquake, UNESCO and the Department of Archaeology (DoA) also made an <a href="https://youtu.be/PstfEuTJmUA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emergency intervention at the Tashi Gomang Stupa (Mangal Bahudwar Chaitya) in Swayambhu</a>, where they found that inside the stucco stupa was another stupa with sculptures and terracotta closely resembling those found at Mahabouddha in Patan. This could indicate that the inner stupa could be from a similar timeframe.The discovery of the hidden chaitya could also prove that the practice of adding layers, creating a multi-shell structure – something characteristic of the larger mahachaitya – also occurred in smaller stupas.Kathmandu’s Handigaon is perhaps the best known site related to the Lichhavi era, and is considered to be the capital of the dynasty. The area has been studied a few times since the 1960s and many 1,300 year old terracotta figures and pottery have been found here, including an inscription dating back to King Amshuvarma.In 1989, an Italian team from ISMEO conducted an excavation at Satya Narayan temple in Handigaun which indicated that the earliest habitation activity in Kathmandu was in the 1st century BCE. Along with other archeological artefacts, a stone conduit dating back to 726 CE in the time of King Priya Varman was also discovered. A life-size stone statue of Jaya Varma was also discovered with an inscription dating back to the 2nd century CE from nearby Maligaun.Many scholars including conservation architect Sudarshan Raj Tiwari believe that the fabled Kailashkut Bhawan was in this area. This was Lichhavi King Amshuverma’s palace built in 598 CE, and so big that Chinese monk Xuanzang who visited Kathmandu at the time chronicled that its upper chamber could hold 1,000 people.“When we were looking for Kailashkut Bhawan, we found traces of archeological deposits inside the Balmandir complex. We are not sure if it is indeed the historical structure, but we also do not know if it is not,” says Tiwari. "Archeologists think that small traces aren't enough proof of anything, they need an entire wall to say that a building was there. But that is not the case because a lot of these places have been disturbed."However, Handigaun is being rapidly built up with residential houses and office blocks. The DoA has said there are traces of the ancient palace in Handigaun but has not moved to protect the site.Adds Tiwari: “The first thing that needs to be done is building restrictions in archaeological sites. We have been telling the government to control construction in Handigaun for years but nothing has happened. When we did the ground radar survey recently, we had to do it on the road.”Even there, the team discovered that the areas under the ground had been disturbed with water pipes and other cable conduits.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372044e9c7e80680e0b2855jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="574"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Handigaun is not an isolated case. In 1984, while constructing the subway at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/water-of-the-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhotahiti</a>, an ancient system with four water conduits was discovered. One of the conduits which was facing east had an inscription dating back to 596 CE saying it was constructed by Bibhu Varman during the rule of King Amshuvarma. The other three facing west and north were from the Malla era. Water was still flowing from the spouts when they were unearthed.But instead of preserving them, the municipality extracted the stone water spouts and stored them in the National Museum in Chhauni. The area was build over with an underpass that no one uses, but water is still seeping out through the concrete from this ancient system.Bhotahiti was among the seven water spouts in the area, and locals say it was first buried during the expansion of Tundikhel by the Ranas in the 1880s.Some 80m north from Bhotahiti towards Jamal is another sunken water spout called Jhanga Hiti which was covered over in 1981 after a local football team got permission to build its clubhouse over the historic site. The lower levels of the building now have shops while the football club has offices and meeting halls on the upper floors.Locals also say that another sunken water spout lies buried under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) building east of Ratna Park.“History is layered, both metaphorically and literally,” says heritage documentarian and activist Alok Siddhi Tuladhar. “While it is understandable that things were destroyed during the Rana regime, it is sad that the same happened and continues to happen when we have people’s representatives running the government.”Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/water-of-the-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Water of the ages</a>, Alok Siddhi TuladharWhen it comes to conservation of these sites, ownership also plays an important role. Ancient pottery and terracotta have been found when digging foundations of buildings in Handigaun. Tiwari says that because people do not want to be bothered with delays in construction, they never report the finds.In 1989, an inscription dating 536 of the Licchavi era was discovered in Baluwagaun near Gokarna which mentioned the presence of a Rajbihar as well as a village, making the area of archeological significance.Archaeologist Prakash Darnal remembers that a house was being built over the find, and when the Village Development Committee was asked to stop construction, officials said nothing could be done because it was private property. A stone water conduit was found while digging the foundation of a private house in Hattisar, and that construction also could not be stopped.Heritage experts say public awareness as well as political will is necessary to save Kathmandu’s historical sites both beneath the ground as much as above the ground.“We explore and excavate to see if there is anything in the subsurface. But once it is done, it doesn’t mean the job is finished,” says Sudarshan Tiwari. “The reports have to be accessible, and in a language that is understandable by general public. This way people will become more aware about the value of protection.“The government then has to implement the recommendations and specify the limitations. Everyone needs to take the conservation of these sites seriously,” he adds.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-siddhartha-gautam-walked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Where Siddhartha Gautam walked</a>, Robin Coningham<h2>What is beneath Kathmandu's Darbar Squares?</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204519c7e80680e0b2856jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="458"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204549c7e80680e0b2857jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="476">Provisional risk map for Kathmandu Darbar Square (left) and Bhaktapur Darbar Square (right). Source: POST-DISASTER URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION, EVALUATION AND INTERPRETATION IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTYArchaeological investigation of the Kathmandu Darbar Square area by UNESCO, Durham University and the Nepal government after the 2015 earthquake classified the World Heritage Site into three zones for protection of subsurface relics of archaeological significance. It recommended:Red ‘High Risk’ areas contain the most important archaeological remains at the site and are of significance not only to understand the development of a specific Darbar Square, but also the wider Kathmandu Valley and beyond. There should be no further development in these areas, and any existing modern structures should wherever possible be removed.Yellow ‘Moderate Risk’ areas contain (or may contain) archaeological remains that can inform us about the development of a specific Darbar Square. Development in these areas should be kept to a minimum, in accordance with an Archaeological Watching Brief.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204569c7e80680e0b2858jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="609" height="860"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Green ‘Low Risk’ areas contain minor or no archaeological remains, which may be able to inform us about the development of a specific Darbar Square. Development in these areas is possible, but should be undertaken in accordance with an Archaeological Watching Brief.

The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet

Home Minister Sudan Gurung resigned on Wednesday following increasing coverage of and criticism over his investment in companies linked to controversial Nepali business figures Sulav Agrawal and Deepak Bhatta, who are currently under investigation for money laundering.
‘I am resigning from the position of Home Minister effective today to ensure impartial investigation into matters associated with me, and to make sure that there is no conflict of interest,’ Gurung wrote, saying that morality and public trust mattered more to him than office.
Gurung ended his message to the nation in English as he invoked the security forces, writing: &nbsp;‘For my country and For the respect of our security forces and For the youths of Nepal.’
<div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsudangrghaminepal%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0ZPJ61BVi6p5siCoatgmezxWoJ2ttTBVNDJji8kLZe7EdDEvZHBuQmTEaRyZye75Pl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="263" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>
Gurung has become the second member to depart the Cabinet, serving for less than a month, despite the Nepali electorate’s hopes that Nepal would finally get a stable government after the RSP’s sweeping victory in the March elections.&nbsp;
Prime Minister Balendra Shah had sought clarification from Gurung on Wednesday after new details emerged about his shares in two micro-insurance companies, Star Micro Insurance and Liberty Micro Life, which are said to have been issued their licence by the Nepal Insurance Authority at the behest of Bhatta and Agrawal.
Gurung denied financial misconduct, saying that his investment in the two companies was included in his asset disclosure and insisting the misunderstanding is because of how the shares have been categorised.&nbsp;
Leaders within the RSP had called for an internal investigation into Gurung as they sought to maintain the party’s platform of clean governance and transparency. As such, Gurung’s position had become increasingly untenable, especially since former Labour Minister was sacked without being given an opportunity for clarification over a disciplinary breach involving his wife’s appointment to the Health Insurance Board.&nbsp;
On social media, Sah on Tuesday seemed to express dissatisfaction over the PM’s request for Gurung’s clarification.&nbsp;
Judging by the comments under Gurung’s resignation post, a significant part of the Nepali public seems to be firmly on Gurung’s side, blaming the mass media and what they call mouthpieces of old parties for driving him out of the Cabinet.&nbsp;
This is a reflection of his meteoric rise and the continued support he has maintained since he stepped into the spotlight as the leader of Nepal’s youth movement in the aftermath of the September protest.&nbsp;
Gurung has made headlines constantly ever since he burst onto the national stage, which includes questions over the degree of his and his organisation Hami Nepal’s involvement in the September 9 unrest, calls to divulge details behind Hami Nepal’s finances, and not paying five years of rent for an illegal lakefront property in Pokhara.&nbsp;
There have also been unsubstantiated claims, despite Gurung’s denial, about his ‘ties’ to the Free Tibet movement, which has made the Chinese— as well as Nepalis— wary.&nbsp;
As Home Minister, Gurung cultivated an image of a tough but approachabe leader, overseeing a series of high-profile arrests of previous political leadership and business figures even as he posted photos of sleeping in a sofa in his office, and engaged with the public on the streets and on social media.&nbsp;
As it stands, the Home Ministry was a bone of contention between Shah and RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane before it was awarded to Gurung, who is a close ally of PM Shah. Analysts had noted that with Gurung in charge, the Home Ministry would be a hook for Shah if Lamichhane, with his share of controversies, stepped out of line.&nbsp;
Following Gurung’s resignation, the Prime Minister’s secretariat has said that the PM would take charge of the portfolio for the time being. But it will be interesting to see if and how fresh negotiations for the Ministry unfold within RSP.&nbsp;
And with his supporter base largely intact, it remains to be seen how much of an impact this setback will have on Sudan Gurung’s political aspirations.&nbsp;

Home Minister Sudan Gurung resigns

Sudan Gurung is dancing. It is 2009. He has an emo fringe falling over one eye and is spinning on a polished floor. His dance shows dedication — moves that take years of bruised elbows to land. The clip is 16 years old, and had been sitting in the dead archives of YouTube and old Facebook pages, watched by almost nobody. This month <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@4gr4j/video/7621892206902725909">it has 1.9 million views</a>. Gurung became Home Minister on 27 March and resigned on Wednesday, barely a month into office. His<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@aayvik/video/7626069452177542408"> pre-political life had been put back into circulation</a> at industrial speed -- the b-boying, the DJ sets, and the YouTube video of him dancing in a music clip.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026042202040_71df4d531423e7c941abde95fb8106346c70ab0afb71bbeb520cc570f14ba178.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026042202040_71df4d531423e7c941abde95fb8106346c70ab0afb71bbeb520cc570f14ba178" data-rendition-name="original" width="2300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="When aura meets audit"> </figure>  The youth of Nepal, well-versed in snappy TikTok edits and aura compilations, turned the archive into a meme economy almost overnight. TikTok remixed the footage to trap beats. The comments settled on a nickname that crossed into everyday speech within days: 'Homie Minister'. <div class="embed-block"><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@yalexthwreal/video/7622325255792512276" data-video-id="7622325255792512276" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;" > <section> <a target="_blank" title="@yalexthwreal" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@yalexthwreal?refer=embed">@yalexthwreal</a> <a title="sudangurung" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sudangurung?refer=embed">#sudangurung</a> new home minister of Nepal😎 <a title="fyppppppppppppppppppppppp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyppppppppppppppppppppppp?refer=embed">#fyppppppppppppppppppppppp</a> <a title="sudangrg" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sudangrg?refer=embed">#sudangrg</a> <a title="home" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/home?refer=embed">#home</a> <a title="minister" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/minister?refer=embed">#minister</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - •⪨н є α я т ❤н α ¢ к є я ⪩• - Music Universe 🎧" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-•⪨н-є-α-я-т-❤н-α-¢-к-є-я-⪩•-7308733170064231170?refer=embed">♬ original sound - •⪨н є α я т ❤н α ¢ к є я ⪩• - Music Universe 🎧</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script></div> As Home Minister, Gurung was in charge of the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Department of Immigration, and the country's internal security apparatus. Calling him 'homie' collapsed the distance between that office and the Discord server where the movement that brought him into power had organised itself. What is harder to explain is why the nostalgic clips did the narrative work for Gurung's political standing right up until the moment the paperwork did not. A teenager on a dance floor in a Thamel club, filmed before smartphones had decent cameras, was functioning as political currency for a powerful home minister, while a share registry was quietly filling the other column. The footage was not an argument. Gurung was not doing anything in it that related to home affairs. He was just dancing. The comments compared him to <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@4gr4j/video/7621892206902725909">Korean film heroes</a>. A separate <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tandavyt7/video/7622151050128018708">48,000-like edit</a> was captioned 'Our New Home Minister Aura'. The replies were full of people saying they got chills listening to him speak. Even after his resignation, most comments on his Facebook page were supportive, saying he had been punished for pursuing truth and justice.&nbsp; Political legitimacy in Nepal has been built out of many things over the last 70 years, but it has never been built out of this. The question was always: what happens when the job starts demanding things his style, boldness, and swag cannot provide. Political aura in Nepal used to be a slow harvest, now it isn't. B P Koirala spent eight years in prison under the Panchayat. He wrote fiction at Sundari Jal. The writing survived, the prison sentences survived, and that experience became the template for what a serious Nepali politician looked like: someone the state had tried to break and failed. Legitimacy was accumulated by having their lives taken away, and refusing to bend the knee. The old mechanics of legitimacy produced politicians who could be audited. The record was made of words, dates, votes, and years behind bars. A voter who wanted to know what a leader stood for read his writings. A journalist digging for inconsistency could find it. The system was slow, often corrupt, and frequently boring. But boring was part of the job description. A minister was supposed to be slightly dull — evidence that the person was doing the unglamorous work of reading files and sitting through committee meetings. Today, boring is a disqualification. The attention economy rewards velocity and visual charge, and a politician who cannot generate either does not exist in the feed, and that means does not exist at all. The legacy parties are still issuing press statements criticising the new guard in the grammar of paper trails and procedural failure. But the audience has stopped reading, users scroll for their next viral bite. Sudan Gurung, unlike the old parties, understood exactly which grammar the feed rewarded. On his first evening as Home Minister, he posted a photo of himself sleeping on a sofa inside the ministry. Caption: creation cannot be greater than the creator, government is not above the people. The image travelled further in 12 hours than any ministerial press release has ever done.&nbsp; A minister napping on a sofa, phone-shot, zero production, read by the public as evidence of a minister who had skipped the motorcade and got straight to work. Gurung used Facebook to announce the names of former ministers and businessmen he intended to arrest. The feed was used to pre-announce state security action.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260422010456_2fa1918e1dd031d01f38b4001ee306d9414073cec0b795fa43a75cb5a8deb8c7.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260422010456_2fa1918e1dd031d01f38b4001ee306d9414073cec0b795fa43a75cb5a8deb8c7" data-rendition-name="original" width="926" height="868" loading="lazy" alt="When aura meets audit"> </figure>  INFLUENTIAL INFLUENCER This is not how the Ministry of Home Affairs has ever operated. It is how a YouTuber releases a series. Sudan Gurung was a political content creator. As home minister, he was an influential influencer kinetically doing something in the visual medium. Much like Prime Minister Balendra Shah's sunglasses, Gurung's aura, authenticity and swag were a brand asset, instantly recognisable at thumbnail size. Balen's rap career supplies a pre-political archive that authenticates him the same way Gurung's DJ sets and b-boying clips authenticated him. The aesthetic is doing the work a manifesto used to do. The work is authenticity, and the strategy is auramaxxing. The emo fringe predates the ministry. The DJ sets predate Hami Nepal. The b-boying predates the earthquake, the NGO, the September uprising, the interim cabinet, all of it. Whatever Gurung is now, he was already that person before the office existed. This was the real spectacle of the Homie Minister: authenticity. Nepal's youth have grown up watching heavily-polished, talking-point ministers speak in a language aimed at nobody in particular. But that grainy archival clip of the Home Minister from 2009 was honest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260422010456_5d6dff3a09e8b7e77dc60c3aa567c9e02b6bd5f90f94e20737ec05cc9a09023b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260422010456_5d6dff3a09e8b7e77dc60c3aa567c9e02b6bd5f90f94e20737ec05cc9a09023b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="When aura meets audit NT"> </figure>  The effect transcended GenZ. <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ektapokharel/video/7623242573481561365">A TikTok trend</a> captioned NOT ONLY OUR HOME MINISTER, WE ARE ALSO FROM THAT ERA <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sonykhadka/video/7624106790266948872">has millennials posting their own</a> archive photos from the same period, aligning themselves with Gurung's pre-political aesthetic. The aura did <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@_thakuri/video/7623397397556645141">cross-generational work</a>. It was a shared legibility, spanning at least 15 years of Nepali youth culture, with the Home Minister standing at its centre.&nbsp; The traditional politician's entire adult life is a performance of identity. Every photograph is lit for the media, every statement is vetted. The persona is the product, and the product has been in development for 30 years. This makes the old guard legible but suspect in the attention economy. A generation raised on authenticity-as-currency reads the decades of careful performance as evidence of something to hide. The polish is the problem. The nostalgic Sudan Gurung party clips inverted this. The polish was absent. The footage could not be performance aimed at the viewer, because the viewer did not exist in 2009 and neither did the political stakes. The clip was therefore read as real, in a way a press conference can never be. It was just a kid dancing, and he happened to grow up to be the Home Minister. But Sudan Gurung's job was never to go viral. The Ministry of Home Affairs requires the person running it to file a complete asset declaration and to avoid holding financial interests in crony entities.&nbsp; None of that work is content. A correctly filed asset declaration does not get remixed into a trap beat. A functioning immigration database is not a TikTok. The paperwork that constitutes actual governance is structurally boring in exactly the way the old parties are structurally boring, and for the same reason. It is the slow, procedural, checkable apparatus that the old system was built to produce and that the new system has not yet learned to replace. And it is painstaking follow-the-money paper trail investigative journalists in the legacy media who uncovered the evidence. You cannot auramaxx your way out of a share registry. You cannot post your way past a conflict-of-interest statute. No amount of fire outfits and wild DJ transitions does anything for you when a journalist pulls the initial shareholder list of Star Micro Insurance and finds your name at number 49, with Rs2.5 million in shares alongside investors linked to Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal — two men currently at the centre of a Rs 3.7 billion money laundering investigation. <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@blox.drop/video/7622173520981658900">Auramaxxing was engineered</a> for the mechanics of reaching office. It is the reason Sudan Gurung became Home Minister and Gagan Thapa did not. The question that had not yet been tested, until this week, was whether the same weapon works when the terrain changes. The terrain does change when you assume power. This week, the answer arrived. TWO CLOCKS Two clocks had been running, and they did not sync. The first clock was built for auramaxxing. A clip posted at eight in the morning peaked by noon. A sofa photo was remixed before the minister had left the building. The feedback loop is fast and legible, and a politician playing this clock gets real-time data on what to post next. The old guard never learned to read it, which is a large part of why they lost the election. The second clock was the one the ministry actually runs on. It measures in quarters, court calendars, and the slow grind of investigation files moving between offices. A share registry takes weeks to pull. A money-laundering case moves at the speed of the prosecutor's office, which is to say, it often does not appear to move at all, until one morning it does. The legacy mass media is fed leaks, and the second clock does not care whether the minister is currently trending. The two clocks collided this week, and the second clock got there first. Faster than anyone expected. The first clock put Gurung in the Home Ministry in weeks. The second clock put him out of it in less than a month. On Sunday evening, Diyopost and Janaastha published documents showing Gurung as a founding shareholder in Star Micro Insurance and Liberty Micro Life — companies licensed by the Nepal Insurance Authority in 2022 following what reporting identified as political lobbying by Bhatta and Agrawal. A photograph also surfaced of Hami Nepal, the NGO Gurung chairs, honouring Bhatta as a donor on 21 December 2021. Gurung's first response was auramaxxed. A Monday Facebook post distinguishing ‘rumours’ from ‘facts’, insisting the shares were disclosed within his broader Rs20 million securities portfolio, promising to cooperate with any investigation. "Allegations and truth are not the same thing," he wrote. "Decisions should be based on evidence, not sentiment." It was a coherent clip, but it did not stop the clock. By Wednesday, Prime Minister Balendra Shah had sought written clarification. Leaders within the RSP itself were calling for his resignation. The opposition Nepali Congress had framed the question as one of democratic transparency.&nbsp; Gurung resigned, posting his decision to Facebook as he did everything else. Ethics, he wrote, hold more weight than any position. There is no power greater than public trust. He ended in English, invoking ‘my country … the respect of our security forces … the youths of Nepal’. Even the exit was content. And this is the asymmetry the office exposed. A politician whose legitimacy is built on fast 30 second videos is structurally exposed to a process that runs slower than the news cycle, because the archive of aesthetic proof was not engineered to answer documentary evidence.&nbsp; It was engineered to displace the demand for documentary evidence in the first place. When that demand returns, as it always does once a politician takes office, the digital archive keeps performing, but the documents keep getting uncovered. And the two tracks do not communicate. The old guard knew this clock because they had no other clock to know. What they lost in charisma they gained in durability: a politician built over 20 years of parliamentary record is harder to dislodge with a single document because they have already survived thousands of documents. The new guard has not been stress-tested against its own paper trail. Sudan Gurung has now been tested, and the test is over, and the template has been written in his exit rather than his survival.&nbsp; A politician can enter office on the strength of a dance clip, and the same class of evidence — share registries, company filings, founding-shareholder lists at number 49 — that would have ended the career of a politician in a previous era of Nepali politics has ended his. The second clock got there. The feed did not save him. Or not entirely. Because the resignation itself is now in the feed. The Facebook post. The 46 brothers and sisters. The epic sign-off. Within hours of stepping down, Gurung had already re-enrolled his exit into the same register that put him in office. The clip of the Home Minister dancing in 2009 is still in circulation. The sofa photo still reads as sincerity. The investigation into the micro-insurance shares will move at the speed of Nepal's prosecutor's office, which is to say, at a speed the feed has long since outrun. The movement that installed Gurung in the name of ending elite capture has had its answer about whether its own hero is subject to the same audit it demanded of everyone else. He walked — or was walked — before the audit ran its course. The resignation was framed as moral choice rather than forced exit, and the framing is already winning. Whether that framing holds is the next test. Auramaxxing, it turns out, is a weapon that works in one direction only: it got him the job, and when the documents arrived, it did not save him. But it may yet save the person. These are not the same thing. If the technique is wounded, it is not yet dead. The next Nepali politician with a pre-political archive and a phone is watching how Gurung exits, not just how he entered. And the answer is: you exit the same way you entered: on Facebook. In your own voice. Before anyone else writes the caption. Whether he comes back is the thing to watch. Whether the technique does is already decided. &nbsp; &nbsp;

When Aura meets Audit

Just three weeks in, Prime Minister Balendra Shah has already shed two ministers, and is having to contend with the economic fallout of the West Asia war plus the global order that it has upended.&nbsp;
The new dispensation in Nepal has aroused interest in New Delhi, Beijing as well as Washington. The ouster of Home Minister Sudan Gurung, whose first act in office was to arrest former prime minister K P Oli, has foreign policy wonks scratching their heads.
The US sent Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur on a special mission to figure out what is happening in Kathmandu. In town at the same time was Cao Jing, Deputy Director General of the Asian Affairs Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And Prime Minister Shah is preparing for an official visit to India.
For the Americans, it is mostly about containing China and looking after the welfare of Tibetan refugees, while pushing its own MCC Compact and State Partnership Program (SSP). Beijing is mindful of the post-Dalai Lama era, and does not want instability in Nepal to encourage free-Tibet activities. India lately seems more wary of American activity in what it considers its backyard.
The Chinese appear relieved to see Sudan Gurung go. Only last week, Ambassador Zhang Maoming met Gurung during which he raised the issue of Tibetan and Taiwanese activities in Nepal, seeking firm commitment that Kathmandu would not harbour activities hostile to Beijing.
“Geographically we are close to Tibet and not to the Mainland, so China remains suspicious of us, especially after the TOB and free-Tibet components that emerged from the GenZ protests,” says geopolitical analyst Indra Adhikari.
Kapur, for his part, met RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal. Although investment and infrastructure was on the agenda, the main issue seems to have been about Tibetan refugees. In nearly parallel meetings with ministers, Cao Jing warned Nepal not to be too cosy with the Americans.
For Indian academic and Nepal watcher Sukh Deo Muni, all this harks back to American activity in Nepal during the height of the Cold War. He tweeted: ‘US senior diplomat Paul Kapur's statement in Kathmandu must be understood carefully in New Delhi. He said the US does not want China or any other country to dominate Nepal.’&nbsp;
‘Any other country’ could be a pointed reference to India, and what this means is that Nepal may now have to navigate even more carefully a tri-polar world order reshaped by the West Asia war.&nbsp;
Nepali journalist based in New Delhi Akanshya Shah agrees that the United States may not be seeing Nepal through the Indian lens anymore, while New Delhi does not want heightened US activity in what it considers its sphere of influence. All this is further complicated by recent frostiness in Washington-New Delhi ties.
“New Delhi doesn’t have that familiarity factor it used to with old leadership in Nepal, but it is curious about what the young Balen Shah will do and what kind of relation he will pursue with India,” she adds. “Certain decisions of the Balen government such as ending VIP culture and delivering passport at homes have hugely resonated with the Indian people, he has in some ways become a role model among the youth in India as well.”
India has invited Prime Minister Shah for an official state visit, which will be his first foreign trip as per tradition. Shah graduated in structural engineering from a college in Bengaluru, and knows India well. Shah has injected religious elements into his public exposure as prime minister and this could help project Nepal’s ‘soft power’ in dealing with India.
But he has also been a nationalist on the Limpiyadhura map dispute, and there are other thorny issues like air connectivity, river projects and power exports that need to be ironed out.&nbsp;
Sukh Deo Muni warns that the old Indian diplomatic approach based on religio-cultural stakeholders in Kathmandu may not work anymore. He wrote: ‘India's Modi government must prepare itself well to deal with new Nepalese leadership and their empowered support base, which is self-confident, highly nationalist, aspirant and impatient.’
The RSP’s 22-page National Commitment document said Nepal should abandon its historical ‘buffer state’ identity to serve as a ‘vibrant bridge’ between regional and global powers. Much of this debate is theoretical, and there is much navel-gazing that distracts from regional realpolitik.&nbsp;
“Whether we are a buffer state or a vibrant bridge, in today’s heightened geopolitical scenario we have to have good relations with good neighbours,” explains Akanshya Shah. “What is of paramount importance is that our ties are based on the aspirations of the young generation, so that they are engaged.”
Indra Adhikari goes as far as to say that the concepts of “buffer state” and “vibrant bridge” have both failed and Nepal is neither. “We have had zero roles in mediating or de-escalating the tensions between India and China to call ourselves a buffer state. As a vibrant bridge, we cannot facilitate trade of the two countries. The new government should have researched and consulted more before proposing the same outdated and failed foreign policy concepts.”&nbsp;
What will be much more important for Prime Minister Shah is to continue Nepal’s traditional policy of ‘equidistance’ and convince his interlocutors that it is not an anti-Indian stance.&nbsp;
“At a time when there is increased interest of big powers in Nepal, we need to do a bit of our own homework for the systemic reforms we want,” says Akanshya Shah. “As for India, we first need to clearly define what we want on connectivity, energy and culture. But most importantly, we have to capitalise on the goodwill of India which we haven’t been able to in the past.”
Adds Indra Adhikari: “When it comes to fundamental aspects of foreign policy that ensures and enhances the well being of our citizens, national parties should all have one unified voice that doesn’t change when the government does. Only then the future generations can own it.”

Love thy neighbours (and America)

Prime Minister Balendra Shah sought written clarification from Home Minister Sudan Gurung following news of his investment in two companies linked to controversial Nepali business figures Sulav Agrawal and Deepak Bhatt, who are currently at the centre of a Rs3.7 billion money laundering investigation.
Home Minister Gurung's secretariat said that it has responded to the PM and submitted a written explanation. This comes after Home Minister Sudan Gurung issued a public clarification about the new developments regarding his investments on Monday.&nbsp;
Gurung is listed as a founding shareholder of two micro-insurance companies Star Micro Insurance and Liberty Micro Life, having acquired shares amounting to Rs2.5 million. The two companies are said to have been issued their licence by the Nepal Insurance Authority at the behest of Bhatt and Agrawal. Family members and close aides of both Bhatt and Agrawal have stakes in the two companies.&nbsp;
Bhatt, chairman of Infinity Holdings, is a power broker accused of using his political connections to secure and manipulate public procurement contracts, influence policy changes ass well as leadership appointments to regulatory institutions including the Securities Board of Nepal and Nepal Insurance Authority.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Shanker Group vice-chair Sulav Agrawal was also arrested earlier this month as part of a broader money laundering probe as well as an investigation into the group’s finances. Agrawal was previously arrested during the Covid-19 pandemic after he was found selling &nbsp;67 infrared thermometers from a vehicle with diplomatic credentials. At the time, Bhatt is said to have used his connections to facilitate Agrawal’s release.&nbsp;
Critics have raised concerns the lack of detailed disclosures on Gurung’s part about investments tied to the very figures that his Home Ministry is in charge of investigating. There are also questions as to the source of his investment, which Gurung said in his clarification were raised through loans.
In his clarification, Gurung denied concealing his investments, saying that his shares in the two companies are part of in his over Rs20 million portfolio included in his asset disclosure and insisting the misunderstanding is because of how the shares have been categorised. &nbsp;
On his name and portfolio being associated with controversial figures, he responded, ‘There are hundreds to thousands of shareholders in a company. Buying shares does not constitute a partnership with anyone.’&nbsp;
He continued: ‘If that is the basis, then everyone with investments in those companies must be held accountable, which is not fair. Investments in the companies include those from media houses and banks. Are they all guilty?’
Leaders within the RSP have called for internal investigation into Sudan Gurung, to maintain the party’s platform of clean governance and transparency.&nbsp;
This comes after the sacking of Labour Minister Dipak Sah earlier this month after the RSP found him to be in breach of the party code of conduct following the reappointment of his wife to the Health insurance board. Sah was not given the opportunity for clarification prior to his departure.&nbsp;
Critics have said that the party is reverting to the patronage-driven politics of previous leadership following the appointment of figures close to RSP leadership in various key positions.
Many influential business owners elected to the House with direct stakes in the business, finance, tourism, and infrastructure sectors sit in Parliamentary Committees that would directly benefit their interests. &nbsp;
On Monday, RSP appointed Bhupdev Shah, who previously was a part of Balen Shah’s secretariat during his tenure as Kathmandu Mayor, as the party’s general secretary. Some have questioned the party’s decision to appoint Shah without going through an election process in its upcoming general convention.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment comes as there is increased public attention over members of the Prime Minister’s inner circle being appointed to key advisory positions as well as to head governance reform committees.

archaeological-heritage

What lies below Hadigaon

The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet

Home Minister Sudan Gurung resigns

When Aura meets Audit

Love thy neighbours (and America)

PM seeks clarification from HM