Shortly after the end of the 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, I had the opportunity to interview Gagan Thapa, the General Secretary-elect. After being elected general secretary, will his focus now be on the country’s executive or party president?
At that time, he gave a slightly twisted answer. Gagan said:
All I have thought about myself is that after a few years, when I take a break from active politics, I will be able to be a loved and trusted leader from the civic ranks like now. Whenever I have no power, I have no hope, then I will not be a minister, I will not be a prime minister, even then there will be people who love that it has done something to improve our lives, that is my hunger. Someone says I have that hunger and greed. I will leave this to the rest. I will not let this element die.
Question to Gagan Thapa: Now your target is the Prime Minister or the party president?
No matter how much I quote, he did not say that I would become the Prime Minister. Because the convention was about to end, they did not receive a formal certificate. In other words, a person who has just been elected General Secretary may be in a hurry to become the future Prime Minister. But in that interview, Gagan did something new.
In recent days, Gagan has said in a television program that he will try to become the next prime minister after the November election. Gagan’s witness was Ram Kumari Jhankri. Gagan, who specializes in word selection, did not say that he would try to be the prime minister by slipping his tongue. I have to write this comment based on Gagan’s statement that ‘I will agree with the Prime Minister’.
Gagan is a very dynamic leader in the contemporary generation. Contemporary leaders seem to be ready to challenge Gagan at the rival party, the CPN-UML or the CPN-Maoist Center, whether in terms of rhetoric or leadership. The so-called young leaders are enslaved to leadership.
Gagan has also said, “Now that you have become the former prime minister after the November election, don’t claim to be the prime minister again.” The new generation will claim it, we will give an exit to the country as much as possible. In other words, he has spoken of becoming the Prime Minister in a sensible and planned manner.
As he has emerged in politics and because of his personal nature, he is not in favor of being very patient. He has said that he will retire from politics after a certain period of time.
Sher Bahadur Deuba, now the president of the Nepali Congress, became the prime minister in 2052 BS at the age of 49. Deuba, who has become the Prime Minister in 49 years, will not be able to call you Alokancho. Even if they give up their ideas, the Congressmen who still claim to be BP’s followers should not forget that BP became the Prime Minister at the age of 40.
Dynamic leader of the contemporary generation
Gagan is a very dynamic leader in the contemporary generation. Contemporary leaders seem to be ready to challenge Gagan at the rival party, the CPN-UML or the CPN-Maoist Center, whether in terms of rhetoric or leadership. The so-called young leaders are enslaved to leadership.
Gagan, who has been cleared from the student movement, still has a rebellious consciousness, which is what he has made his identity. Gagan went to Baneshwor on the day KP Oli dissolved the House of Representatives when the Congress failed to form a formal position. He also pointed fingers at the judges so that justice would not be sacrificed in the court. During the first dissolution of the House of Representatives, no other Congress leader had the courage to do so.
Even when there is a Congress government, he sometimes presents himself in the role of a rebellious leader. Let’s look at some recent examples. Taking special time in Parliament, he spoke about stock investors. Tried to win the hearts of millions of young people who have invested heavily in the stock market.
Gagan, who has been openly supportive of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US financial aid program, was overwhelmed by the US State Partnership Program (SPP). After passing the MCC, Gagan had asked the House to shave his head and cut his coat. The video clip of him speaking in the parliament was being shared on social media again while the SPP was working hard to move forward.
Opposition lawmakers began speaking in parliament. Shutting down the voices of protest at once, he first spoke in Parliament and demanded the repeal of the SPP. He met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba along with another General Minister Bishwaprakash Sharma and put pressure on him to postpone the SPP. The day the two general ministers met, the government decided to withdraw from the SPP.
Gagan spoke out in front of the opposition after the government issued a mandatory notice in mid-July to put up embossed number plates.
Standing on a bench of the ruling party, Gagan also warned the parliament that if it was forced on an embossed number plate, it would be disobedient. As a result, the government backtracked. UML leader Bhim Rawal had supported his statement in the parliament. That is, he is at the forefront of articulating the people’s agenda.
Newly elected mayor Balen Sah was sweating as the garbage of Kathmandu did not rise after being obstructed by the people of Sisdol. While other lawmakers in Kathmandu remained silent, he did not help Balen in waste management, but repeatedly raised the issue in parliament. He took part in the discussion on the Appropriation Bill
They demanded a budget to fulfill the promise made in Redanda.
He emphasized on long-term waste management even though no flyover was constructed in Kathmandu. What other MPs in Kathmandu could not do.
At a time when there is a shortage of chemical fertilizers in the country, Gagan tried to hold the government accountable in parliament. He not only points out the problem of chemical fertilizers but also suggests solutions. In the past, when he was the chairman of the parliamentary committee, he discussed the basic problems of Nepal’s agricultural sector
Had studied the subject.
Unlike other leaders, he does not speak in Parliament on the basis of newspaper reports. Due to adequate study and speaking, the content of banner news is given even when speaking in zero time (one minute) of the parliament. So he is somewhat different from other contemporary leaders.
This means that Gagan has already shown some ability to become the chief executive of the country. With few exceptions, the people living in Singha Durbar have had zero vision till now, except for saying that they have spent so many years in jail or forest for the sake of democracy.
Gagan Versus future Prime Minister Gagan who was not ‘recognized’ by the Congress!
Even after a decade and a half of the establishment of the republic in the country, the retired commanders of the Nepal Army have not yet assimilated the establishment of the republic in the country. There is a generation in the Nepali Congress that still sees Gagan as a Nepali Union cadre.
The generation that was a central member of the Congress when Gagan did student politics in Trichandra is still a central member. That rust in the Congress will not allow the new generation to move forward as much as possible.
Gagan Vishwaprakash will certainly not be helped to move forward by the generation that has taken over the reins of politics by circling around Sher Bahadur Deuba or 70 leaders.
That black and white generation of the Congress, which had a hangover in 2048 BS, is completely unaware of the needs and desires of today’s youth.
They are not free from the illusion that the contract commission can snatch tickets and win the election. They seem almost unaware that the younger generation is being attracted to Balen and Ravi Lamichhane, challenging the traditional party. When a journalist announces the opening of a party, not only the assembly hall but also the crowd reaches the streets. That level of the Congress is unaware of the political transformation taking place in the country.
Will the people approve the agenda of making the same old face the Prime Minister for the sixth or third time even after the elections in November or November? Or will Congress put forward a face for sale? Who is the selling face of the Congress for the PM? All questions are unanswered.
Gagan is not a leader with all qualities, like other leaders, he is not without accusations of Gafadi. No evidence is needed to make an accusation.
He also writes that he took money from Gagan Thapa for writing so much. He has been accused of carrying the agenda of nations in the West, especially the United States, on social media. But whatever allegations are made, Gagan is likely to reach an executive position in Nepal and is yet to be tested. Gagan and Vishwaprakash have also worked behind the success of the Congress in the local level elections.
Will the people approve the agenda of making the same old face the Prime Minister for the sixth or third time even after the elections in November or November? Or will Congress put forward a face for sale? Who is the selling face of the Congress for the PM? All questions are unanswered.
After RPP, Nepal’s second Conservative party, the Congress, is unlikely to field a young man like Gagan as prime minister, but if it understands the ground, it has to move forward.
People are not going to believe the idols that are in power now. There is no doubt that independent leaders within the party will try to corner Gagan, who has announced his candidacy for the PM’s job, and defeat him in the election. Leaders whose future is in the dark due to Gagan’s rise will try their best to defeat Gagan in this election.
The Congress is the party that prevented Gagan from becoming the president of the Nepali Union. The Maoists, who won the election in 2064 BS, were prevented from handing over power for five months. Even in 2074 BS, the transfer of power was hampered. This Conservative mechanism has not allowed many talents to rise in politics.
Gagan is the initiator of the wave of independent candidates running across the country and the damage that could be done to the Congress during the storm in Kathmandu. People are no longer going to vote for the Congress by talking about fighting for democracy, fighting against tyranny or saying, “If a communist comes, you can’t cry.” The interest of these things has been eaten up by the Congress. Those agendas have become ghosts.
It remains to be seen whether Nepal’s politics will change after the November election or fall into another quagmire. If there is no transformation and generational transformation in the parties, no one will be able to stop the downward journey of the big parties due to the consciousness of the voters. The conscious people of 2079 BS are much smarter than the people of 2046 BS, 2063 BS or 2074 BS.
