Vehicles Torched in Kathmandu Amid Election Disruption Claims; Flyers Linked to Durga Prasai Found

Vehicles were set on fire in Maharajgunj and Naikap areas of Kathmandu on Tuesday with the apparent aim of disrupting the elections. Flyers bearing the image of medical entrepreneur and activist Durga Prasai were discovered at the scene.

“First Nepal, First Nepali” was the slogan on the flyers, which put forward 12 demands, ranging from changing the country's political system to the waiver of loans from banks and financial institutions.

The flyers, scattered and found partially burned at the arson sites, detailed Prasai's future action plan and demands in a point-wise manner.

The second and third points of the flyer called for a change in the political system. The demand was to abolish the current constitution and establish a “Vedic Sanatan Dharma-based Hindu Kingdom” that includes Buddhist and Kirat religions. Furthermore, it stated that the country's current provincial structure, dubbed a “white elephant,” should be abolished and the previous structure of 5 development regions, 14 zones, and 75 districts should be reinstated.

Seeking a change in the governance system, the flyer demanded the establishment of a “Directly Elected Executive Prime Minister.” Claiming that 3.4 trillion rupees are at risk in banks run by high-level business houses, the flyer mentioned nationalizing these banks once, and for middle-class business persons with loans exceeding 2 million rupees, maintaining the loan tenure at 25 years with an interest rate of 5 percent.

Prioritizing the return of Nepali youth working in Gulf countries and providing them employment domestically was also mentioned. The demand for the state to take responsibility for and arrange the repayment of lost savings of cooperative depositors was also included in the flyer.