PM Oli dismisses corruption charges leveled against him by former PM Bhattarai

Published On: October 16, 2020 01:09 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Oct 16: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday rebuffed allegations made by former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai about PM Oli’s involvement in corruption in Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project.

Addressing a program organized at the Nepal Police headquarters, Naxal, to mark the 65th Nepal Police Day, Prime Minister Oli said that his government has shown zero tolerance against corruption.

Oli said that some people have made irresponsible remarks against him although his government has left no stone unturned to control corruption in the country.

“I heard that some people have accused the incumbent prime minister and former prime minister of gobbling up billions of rupees to award a project (Budhigandaki hydropower) even though no formal decision has been made yet to award the project, and even the construction of the project has yet to kick off. We can never be involved in such an immoral act and we don’t let it happen as well,” Prime Minister Oli said.

Earlier this week, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition Nepali Congress had challenged former Prime Minister Bhattarai to make public the evidence, if he has any, and present them before the authorized agency of the government for further investigation.

Speaking at a public event in Gorkha last week, Dr Bhattarai, who is also a senior leader of Janata Samajbadi Party, alleged that Oli, Dahal and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba took Rs 9 billion in commissions from the proposed Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project. Bhattarai, however, did not clarify who gave such a large amount of money to these leaders.

The NC has already refuted the allegation and challenged Bhattarai to present the evidence, while urging him to refrain from making such irresponsible statements. In his remarks, former prime minister Bhattarai had even claimed that he has evidence of such corruption committed by the top leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties.