'Ministry’s  missing vehicle used by leader Mahantha'

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KATHMANDU, July 6: The Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on Asar 15 (June 29), reporting that its official vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio with the number plate Province 3-01-002 Jha 5367, had gone missing. However, just two days after the letter was dispatched, the vehicle reappeared at the ministry.
Senior officials at the ministry are tight-lipped about the circumstances — who used the vehicle when it was missing, how it disappeared, and who returned it. Yet, a joint secretary claimed that Labour Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari had allowed the chairperson of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), Mahantha Thakur, to use the vehicle. According to the official, Thakur had been using the vehicle for personal purposes.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Dandu Ghimire, confirmed that a letter had indeed been sent to the Home Ministry requesting help in locating the missing vehicle. “I don’t know who was using the vehicle, but two days after we wrote to Home, it was found at the ministry itself,” he said.
According to sources, after the letter was sent, aides close to Mahantha Thakur returned the vehicle to the ministry. One day before the letter was sent — on Asar 14 — Labour Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar had questioned Administration Division Chief Nischal Raj Pandey about the missing vehicle. When the vehicle still wasn’t found, he instructed that a letter be sent to the Home Ministry.
Sources inside the ministry say that tensions have grown recently between Minister Bhandari and Secretary Pushkar. “That’s likely why the secretary chose to send the letter, despite knowing Thakur had the vehicle,” said one insider. The letter to the Home Ministry requested a search for the vehicle "wherever and in whatever condition it may be found" and that legal action be initiated against those involved as per a decision made on 2082/03/14 BS (June 28, 2025) at the secretary level.
The letter stated: “The four-wheeled vehicle listed below, owned by this ministry, has been missing for some time. We request that it be searched for, wherever and in whatever condition it may be found, and that legal proceedings be initiated against the individuals involved in this matter in accordance with prevailing laws.”
Minister Bhandari was reappointed to his post on the recommendation of the LSP, chaired by Thakur. “That’s why Bhandari wanted to keep Thakur happy by offering him the vehicle,” said a source.
Dr. Surendra Jha, General Secretary of the LSP and close to Thakur, admitted that the vehicle was occasionally used by Chairman Thakur and was returned to the ministry about a month ago. “The party president used it sometimes, but we returned it long ago,” Jha said.
He added, “It seems the secretary of the ministry wrote the letter due to a communication gap.”
However, another joint secretary insisted that the vehicle only returned to the ministry two days after the letter was sent to the Home Ministry. According to him, the vehicle was primarily used not by Thakur himself, but by his daughter, Dr. Meenakshi Thakur. Still, General Secretary Jha maintained that it was Thakur, not his daughter, who used the vehicle.