2054 Jestha 9. On the eve of the local elections, voters in Kathmandu packed the National Assembly building. They wanted to ask questions to the mayoral candidate of Kathmandu Metropolitan City through the local elections to be held in the near future. At that time, the mayoral candidates were Manmohan Bhattarai of the Nepali Congress and Keshav Sthapit of the UML. Public opinion was divided in favor of the Congress and the UML. In the 'debate' organized by the Kathmandu Jaycees, it was planned that both candidates would be put together and voters would question the future plans of Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

Although the program was scheduled to start at 11 am, Congress candidate Bhattarai arrived half an hour later and UML candidate Sthapit arrived two and a half hours later. The first question voters asked Sthapit about the candidates not following the time schedule was, ‘If you don’t care about time even after winning the election, what will you do after winning?’ Sthapit’s answer was, ‘I couldn’t come on time because I got the information about the program late.’ When it was not decided that Sthapit would come, the JC had already started the program by letting Manmohan speak. Voters had asked questions related to party-based political issues rather than the future plans of the metropolis.

‘Isn’t it an insult to the voters to demand the cancellation of the election just because the results in the West were not in their favor?’ A questioner had asked Congress candidate Manmohan. Manmohan’s answer was, ‘In the first phase of the election, the ruling party used fear, intimidation and force to bring about results in their favor.’ Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bamdev Gautam has said that if we accept the rigged elections in 2036, we should accept this one too.' He had said that the UML had won the western districts by capturing them in the first phase of the elections held on Jestha 4.

'Elections are a periodic matter, capture is not periodic,' he had said. He had also accused Gautam of creating psychological fear among the people while in power. Manmohan had objected to Home Minister Gautam's argument that 40,000 police officers could not provide security to 20 million people. He had said that he had created psychological fear among the voters on that basis. While answering a question, he had said that the Congress would not go to a face-off in the second phase of the elections.

The second phase of the elections was scheduled for Jestha 13. In the program to ask questions to the candidates held five days before that, political questions received more attention than the development of the metropolitan city.

‘Cannot be made into a reed bamboo’

The questioner had said, ‘UML has not considered democracy as the ultimate goal. How can it guarantee that tomorrow we will bring a republic and make a single cemetery?’ Answering the question, Sthapit had said, ‘Even though we talk about communism and republic, we have done it for the prosperity.’ Stating that the constitution should not be followed after the people’s awareness has been raised, Sthapit had said that the sovereign people will decide that. He had argued that if the people gave the mandate, making a reed bamboo as a constitution would not work.’

Ram Prasad Khatiwada, a voter of Mahanagar Ward No. 15, had asked, ‘During the nine-month rule of UML, they made a deal with smugglers and included them in sports.’ If you become the mayor of the metropolis, will you re-appoint Tibadewala and Anand Agarwal, the accused in the LC case, as advisors?'

Sthapit, who is also a former member-secretary of the National Sports Council, replied, 'I don't know who is a black marketeer, who is a smuggler and who does what, that is not my responsibility. If they invest in sports, I have appointed them as advisors.' Stating that they will be arrested if they engage in black marketeer and smuggling, Sthapit said that all parties have collected donations from Mohangopal Khetan. He had said, 'I have to say with helplessness, our party has taken more money from Khetan, that's all.'

During the 'debate', Congress candidate Bhattarai had put forward the idea of ​​creating a system for the development of the metropolis. He had said that the main agenda was the drinking water problem, affordable housing and self-employment. Sthapit, on the other hand, had argued that the problem could be solved only by creating an integrated Greater Kathmandu.

Sthapit had pointed out that there was a big problem of immigrants in Kathmandu, and once they became Prime Minister and Minister, they had developed a tendency to refuse to leave Kathmandu. He had complained, ‘Even if policy makers and employees come from outside and settle here, they do not allocate budget for the development of the metropolis.’

Voters had questioned Sthapit about the support of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. In response, UML candidate Sthapit had said, ‘The RPP has congratulated us by withdrawing our candidacy in the metropolis. If the RPP had not supported us here, why would our youths in Bhairahawa have taken up sticks?’ After hearing his answer, the questioner had asked whether the youths of Bhairahawa would be brought to Kathmandu. But Sthapit had not answered that.

Sthapit was suspected of being involved in supplying ‘sura-sundari’ and releasing the culprits of the LC scandal during the change of power and was asked to clarify about it. Sthapit's reply was, 'We were going to break the equation.' UML central member Ishwar Pokharel also accused us of engaging in 'sura-sundari' and 'tussle'. If a pure party like UML had engaged in such things, there would have been no wave from the West.'