KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 15

As the animosity between Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah and the CPN-UML, Prime Minister KP Oli, who is also the chair of the CPN-UML, has finally broken silence over Mayor Shah and referred to him as a "boy, bizarrely enough, but everyone is loving him," who should not be in charge of the metropolis.

At a party activist training session in Kathmandu on Saturday, PM Oli said, "A new figure has emerged who speaks recklessly. He should not be allowed to take the lead. If his unchecked remarks gain traction, they may become accepted. We must get rid of such illusory figures."

PM Oli expressed dissatisfaction with the CPN-UML's current public relations efforts. He pointed out that while no other party has as many activists and supporters as the UML, mobile phones were not being used effectively for party promotion.

PM Oli's Facebook followers recently plummeted after KMC Mayor Shah's supporters began supporting the 'Unfollowing the KP Oli' campaign. His Facebook page continues to have fewer followers than it did before the incident.

PM Oli recently criticised Mayor Shah. Nonetheless, it all started during the first week of June, when Mayor Shah accused UML chair Oli of 'policy corruption' while attempting to swap the land of Giri Bandhu Tea Estate in Jhapa. The mayor and UML leaders clashed over jurisdiction in the same month as the city expanded a sidewalk on New Road.

The feud between the two intensified after Mayor Shah issued a notice urging residents not to build any structures in a 40-metre area on the bank of the Bagmati and its tributaries, as per a Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court issued a decision on 9 December 2023, prohibiting construction in an additional 20-metre area beyond the existing provision of 20 metres, and the full text was made public in August of this year.

Following the full text of the verdict, Mayor Shah issued a notice indicating that he was enforcing the court decision. However, his move irritated the UML leaders, who opposed it by forming a struggle committee.

The UML leaders met with the leaders, including Oli, and made them wary of the verdict. When Prime Minister Oli received the memorandum from the struggle committee on Monday, he decided to seek a review of the verdict. With the passing of the day, NC leaders expressed their opposition to the verdict.

Previously, the Mayor chastised Oli for defending UML Provincial Assembly member Rekha Sharma, who, according to the KMC, abused a girl child.

On Saturday, Mayor Shah, in his maverick style, took to social media and posted that he could not wish on Children's Day, which is celebrated on Bhadra 29 as per Lunar calendar in Nepal every year due to Prime Minister Oli.

"I could not wish on Children's Day because the victim girls would die without getting justice because of PM (Khadag Prasad Oli)," reads his post.

Oli now often criticises the mayor indirectly. However, Nepali Congress leader Shankar Bhandari has said, "Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's statement to Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah is freakish."

In a statement issued on Sunday, Bhandari stated that the Prime Minister made harsh and unnatural remarks about a specific person and institution. "For example, the sharp remarks directed at Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah have become talk of the town," he said.

He said the country's prime minister should demonstrate civilised, cultured, and mature behaviour and speech.

"However, instead of calling Mayor Shah and assisting him in making the KMC more organised, he appears to be enraging his cadres and provoking Mayor Shah," he said. "Such instruction by the party chair and prime minister does not send a positive message to society."