{"id":92512,"date":"2026-06-22T11:03:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kalopati.com\/?p=92512"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:20:08","slug":"swarnims-agnipariksha-and-congresss-astitva-raksha-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/news\/92512","title":{"rendered":"Swarnim’s ‘Agnipariksha’ and Congress’s ‘Astitva Raksha’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Politics shrouded in the shadow of policy corruption<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently, two scenes are being staged in parallel on the stage of Nepali politics. First, the technocratic ‘technocrato’ who is handling the reins of the economy, Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle’s loud claims of morality and the serious allegations against him. Second, the growing internal conflict and existential crisis within the country’s oldest democratic party, the Nepali Congress. <\/p>\n

At the heart of both of these scenes is ‘faith’. People’s trust, trust of party cadres and trust in state machinery. Finance Minister Wagle’s challenge to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Thursday and the data presented by RPP lawmaker Khusbu Oli indicate the depth of policy-level corruption in Singha Durbar. The warning given by Prakash Sharan Mahat shows how weak the Congress is standing on this ground. <\/p>\n

Swarnim’s ‘Two Bucks’ Challenge: Courage or Defensive Strategy? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle is considered to be an intellectual and logical leader. But the way he defended himself in the Public Accounts Committee gives the impression that he is under a lot of pressure. He has been accused of benefiting a limited number of business houses by leaking information before the tax rate of electric vehicles (EV) <\/span> was changed. <\/p>\n

Wagle told the committee, “If Swarnim Wagle misbehaves somewhere, I am ready to give up my public life, not only as a finance minister, nor as a lawmaker.” \u201d<\/p>\n

It’s a very heavy expression. To announce that he will quit public life is to put his political career at stake. <\/p>\n

But the question arises \u2013 should the policy corruption of Nepal be seen in the physical transaction of two rupees? Policy corruption is on paper, which creates a gap of billions in the state coffers, but can make people look clean. The allegation against Wagle is of information leakage, which is considered very difficult to prove. However, the question arises as hundreds of vehicles of certain companies passed the customs before the tax rate was changed. Wagle’s challenge may make him appear morally superior, but the answer to the technical questions raised by Khusbu Oli is still incomplete. <\/p>\n

Khusbu Oli’s Quote: Revenue Hole of 5 Billion <\/strong><\/p>\n

}<\/p>\n

The data presented by Rastriya Prajatantra Party chief whip Khusbu Oli to the PAC has exposed the collusion between the customs administration and the Ministry of Finance. He claimed that the state has suffered a loss of more than Rs 5 billion by changing the number of vehicle seats. <\/p>\n

This is not an ordinary accusation. Customs duty has been reduced to 10 percent for 11 seats for 7 to 8 seater vehicles with folding seats. Similarly, the reduction of customs duty from 15 to 18 seats shows how the laws and regulations of the state are twisted for the benefit of traders. <\/p>\n

According to Oli, more than 5,000 such vehicles have already entered the country. If this is true, then this is not only corruption, it is a robbery of the state treasury. While the Finance Minister is talking about the honesty of two rupees, the fact that the revenue of Rs 5 billion has been embezzled under his nose has raised a big question mark on his efficiency. The fact that ministers and secretaries have not been informed about this shows how the administrative mechanism keeps the political leadership in the dark or how the leadership remains silent. <\/p>\n

Congress’s Crisis: Mahat’s Concern and Gagan’s Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Finance Minister Wagle was defending the allegations in Singha Durbar, former Finance Minister and Congress leader Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat was expressing serious concern about the future of the party. Dr Mahat concluded, “Revival is difficult without greater unity within the party. \u201d<\/p>\n

The Nepali Congress is now divided into two factions. One faction wants to take the 15th general convention through a regular process (Deuba-Mahat group) and the other faction, which is in a hurry to change the leadership through a special general convention (Gagan-Bishwa Prakash group). <\/p>\n

Dr. Mahat has clearly stated that even though Gagan Thapa has technically got the leadership, he has not been able to include everyone. This has led to a rift among the cadres and an increase in the number of people leaving the party. Although the Congress is the largest party in the parliament, the main reason why the government seems weak politically and organizationally is due to this psychological chasm. <\/p>\n

This expression of indicates two things<\/strong><\/p>\n

}<\/p>\n

1. Failure of leadership: The present office-bearers could not give new energy to the party. <\/p>\n

2. Existential Fear: If the current situation continues, it is certain that the condition of the Congress will be even worse in the next elections. <\/p>\n

Interrelation of policy, politics, and morality<\/strong><\/p>\n

The case of Swarnim Wagle and the concern of Prakash Sharan Mahat can be seen in a single episode. Swarnim Wagle was in the Congress yesterday. He contributed for a long time to the policy making of the Congress. However, he left due to factionalism within the party and lack of opportunities. Today, he is the finance minister from another party, but the accusations against him have finally pointed fingers at the system of Nepali politics. <\/p>\n

TAG_OPEN_strong_61 There are two types of crises in Nepal at present: economic crisis and political vacuum<\/p>\n

TAG_CLOSE_strong_61.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Wagle claims to take bold decisions to resolve the economic crisis, but the allegations of information leakage and tax embezzlement are weakening his moral ground. On the other hand, the country’s democratic stability is at risk due to the infighting of a historic party like the Nepali Congress. <\/p>\n

Who will pass the ordeal? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not a small thing to say that if any finance minister is proved to have misappropriated two rupees in public, then he will give up his life. But in politics, the evidence is not always material. Those who indulge in policy corruption never leave receipts on paper. <\/p>\n

How Wagle addresses the issue of Rs 5 billion revenue embezzlement raised by Khusbu Oli will be the real test of his clean image. If he is really honest, he should immediately form a high-level inquiry commission into the import of those 5,000 vehicles. We should show the courage to take strict action against the secretaries of our own ministries and customs officials. Otherwise, his challenge will be limited to populist rhetoric. <\/p>\n

Same challenge to Congress and Swarnim \u2013 Delivery<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nepali people are now tired of speeches and challenges. They want results. <\/p>\n

For the Congress, Dr. As Mahat said, there is a need for greater unity and new energy, which is not possible with the lone efforts of Gagan Thapa or Sher Bahadur Deuba. For this, it is necessary to leave the ego within the party and draw a common roadmap. <\/p>\n

Similarly, for Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, this is the clock of Make or Break {{TAG_OPEN_span_56 TAG_CLOSE_span_56}}. He will have to prove himself not only as a scholar but also as a strict and transparent administrator. He said that the honesty of two rupees should be seen in the revenue defense of 5 billion<\/p>\n

Finally,<\/strong><\/p>\n

This fluid state of Nepalese politics has made one thing clear: unless internal democracy is strengthened within the parties and unless those in public office do not dare to plug the hole of policy corruption, neither the revival of the Congress nor can any golden person change the country. <\/p>\n

Time is running out, and Dr. As Mahat said, now is not the time to be distracted. Whether it is a matter of party unity or saving the revenue of the state!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politics shrouded in the shadow of policy corruption Currently, two scenes are being staged in parallel on the stage of Nepali politics. First, the technocratic ‘technocrato’ who is handling the reins of the economy, Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle’s loud claims of morality and the serious allegations against him. Second, the growing internal conflict andContinue reading “Swarnim’s ‘Agnipariksha’ and Congress’s ‘Astitva Raksha’”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":85873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1391],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-en"],"acf":[],"publishedDateNp":"\u096e \u0905\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0968\u0966\u096e\u0969, \u0938\u094b\u092e\u092c\u093e\u0930 \u0967\u0967:\u0966\u0969","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92513,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92512\/revisions\/92513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/85873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kalopati.com\/kp_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}