Audio Leak Suggests Nepali Congress Leader Shekhar Koirala Conspired to Defeat Party President Gagan Thapa in Sarlahi-4 Election

Kathmandu. An audio recording has surfaced suggesting that Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala was actively working to ensure the defeat of party President Gagan Thapa in the House of Representatives election from Sarlahi-4.

The recording indicates that Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, who is also a candidate for the House of Representatives from Morang-6, mobilized Congress workers to defeat President Thapa.

Koirala is accused of playing a role, through his personal secretary Dineshchandra Thapaliya, in ensuring the victory of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate Amresh Kumar Singh in Sarlahi-4 by defeating Congress President Thapa. The audio suggests Koirala dispatched a Congress worker with the surname Singh from Dhalkebar, Dhanusha, to Sarlahi-4 to work against Thapa.

During the 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, Koirala and Thapa contested from the same faction for the posts of President and General Secretary, respectively. Recently, the distance between Koirala and Thapa had widened. Koirala became dissatisfied after Thapa and then General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma secured leadership through a special general convention, as Koirala favored a regular convention. Koirala, who was in the race to become President, ultimately sided with then-President Sher Bahadur Deuba against the special general convention at the last moment.

After the Election Commission recognized the special general convention of the Congress, and while the Deuba faction's appeal to the court was not immediately heard, Koirala became a candidate for the House of Representatives from Morang Constituency No. 6 using a ticket signed by Congress President Gagan Thapa.

The Congress Central Working Committee had declared President Thapa as the future Prime Minister. The establishment faction suspects that Koirala orchestrated this conspiracy with the ambition of becoming the parliamentary party leader if he could manage to defeat President Thapa in Sarlahi-4, and to consolidate his influence within the party.

According to a Congress worker from Sarlahi, Shekhar seems to have deployed people under the illusion that former Provincial Assembly member Upendra Kushwaha could be persuaded to work against Gagan. However, Upendra, who was close to former Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba for a long time, has recently become close to Congress President Thapa and is even managing his election campaign. In the audio conversation, it is heard that Koirala's personal secretary Thapaliya, unaware of this development, might have formulated a strategy to bring Kushwaha to Amresh's side to mobilize efforts against Gagan.

In the audio, the mobilized individual asks Shekhar's personal secretary Dinesh over the phone who will pay the money if Upendra is brought on board. In response, it can be clearly heard in the audio that Dinesh stated Amresh would pay.

The Congress worker with the surname Singh was apprehended by local Congress workers after being found engaging in unusual activities in Dhankol of Sarlahi-4. The Congress worker stated that the individual, upon being detained, admitted that Shekhar had assigned him the task of defeating Gagan. This audio surfaced after the person was taken into custody.

• The audio conversation between Congress leader Shekhar's personal secretary Dinesh and Singh is as follows:

Singh - Dinesh ji, Jai Nepal. Listen. I am here in Sarlahi-4. I was here at Upendra ji's place for Amresh. Here, Gagan Dai will win by one or two thousand, two or three thousand votes.

Dinesh - Gagan will?

Singh - After Upendra agrees, who will pay that money?

Dinesh - What?

Singh - After Upendra agrees, who will pay that money?

Dinesh - Ah, ah (sounding hesitant). Amresh will.

Singh - Okay, fine, I'll keep it.

A Congress worker from Sarlahi stated that Koirala might have played this game for his own political resurgence if he could defeat Thapa, who entered the election campaign with the slogan 'Change Congress, Change the Nation' as the Congress's candidate for Prime Minister. 'When Congress workers in Sarlahi were united to ensure the President's victory, we found Shekhar Dai mobilizing people to defeat him, so we detained them,' said the worker. 'Upon questioning them after apprehension, we found they were mobilized after taking money.' According to the worker, checking the mobile phone revealed call details showing regular telephone communication between the individual and Shekhar Koirala's personal secretary Thapaliya and RSP candidate Amresh Singh.

After the Congress Central Working Committee declared Thapa as the Prime Ministerial candidate and he entered the election, Koirala had expressed dissatisfaction in the media, alleging that Thapa was being put forward as Prime Minister against the parliamentary practice of the Congress.

In the previous election, Amresh, who won the House of Representatives election as an independent, had been vocal against Gagan Thapa while speaking softly in favor of Shekhar. Sources indicate that Koirala and Singh share a cordial relationship. Sources claim that Koirala and Amresh met after the election was announced.

Thapaliya's Statement

In the audio episode, Thapaliya said: I can't even imagine such things