Kathmandu, February 19
Despite pledges that he won’t be attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies any longer, Prime Minister Prachanda — a communist prime minister at that — went to inaugurate a weeklong Purana recital in Siraha district on Sunday — that too on a chopper.
Onlinekhabar asked about the PM’s itinerary to his secretariat, which responded thus: Prime Minister is heading to Siraha at the request of Nepali Congress leader and lawmaker Pradip Giri. He will be back in an hour, after inaugurating the weeklong recital.
And we asked Giri: Is it true that you are taking Prime Minister to Siraha for inauguration of a Purana recital?
Giri asked the concerned sides not to involve him in this. He said: Some village youths said they are organising a Purana recital. And they asked me to request PM for attendance and I forwarded this request. I am just a medium, not the organiser.
Giri said it is not necessary to write news on things like Puranas. When reminded that people have the right to know where the PM goes and what programmes he attends, Giri said: I will write an article on Puranas when I return.
According to a source, after getting the invite from Giri, PM Prachanda had said: Shall I attend a programme like this? On his part, Giri shed light on the importance of Puranas. Then PM expressed willingness to attend the event if Giri too was going.
It is learnt that PM’s Secretariat is not happy with the move.
These days, instead of focusing on important tasks at hand, PM is busy moving around and inaugurating programmes. On Friday, PM Prachanda flew to Rolpa district to attend the Rolpa Festival.
Instead of spending energies on election preparations, instead of intensifying political talks and performing daily chores, PM Prachanda has started inaugurating programmes that are not really important.
After returning from Siraha, PM will inaugurate another programme on infrastructrure in Hotel Soaltee.
