After details of his business partnership with businessman Deepak Bhatta, who is being investigated for money laundering, became public, leaders of the ruling Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have started demanding an investigation into Home Minister Sudhan Gurung. The party leaders have said that the party should not remain silent after questions have been raised, even though the government is built on the foundation of good governance.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah dismissed the then Labor Minister Deepak Kumar Sah from his post on 26 Chaitra after the issue of his wife, who had been inactive for a long time, being employed as a regular member of the Health Insurance Board. At that time, the RSS had recommended that Sah be dismissed. Now that questions have been raised publicly about Home Minister Gurung, the party and the government should respond in some way, according to the RSS leaders. ‘Sah was removed without even giving him a chance to explain in the context of good governance, now a more serious question has arisen,’ an MP who is also an office bearer of the RSS told Kantipur, ‘The party should immediately conduct an internal investigation through some mechanism and reach a conclusion. If a mistake is found, it should not be covered up.’

A central committee meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was held on Monday while questions were being raised about Home Minister Gurung’s partnership and investment with controversial businessman Bhatta. However, it was not discussed, saying it was not on the agenda of the meeting. Party spokesperson Manish Jha said that although the meeting did not discuss the issue, the party’s top leadership’s attention was drawn to the questions raised against Home Minister Gurung. ‘They are discussing the issue,’ he said.

Seven RSS MPs, office bearers and central members that Kantipur spoke to shared the same view that an investigation should be conducted after questions were raised against Home Minister Gurung. Two MPs, however, said that purchasing shares should not be considered a partnership, but rather that Minister Gurung should clarify the source of investment.

A central member and MP of the RSS, who said that he was waiting for the discussion within the party, said, ‘In a government formed on the basis of a movement for good governance and transparency, all members must be blameless. Otherwise, it will be difficult to run both the government and the party.’ He also said that a sensitive ministry like the Home Ministry needs qualified leadership, not one who wants to learn.

Media outlets including Diyopost.com and Janaastha.com had made public details of Gurung's business partnership with Bhatta on Sunday evening. Documents showing his investment in Star Micro Insurance Company Limited and Liberty Micro Life Insurance, which are investments of Bhatta and Shankar Group, which are under investigation, were also made public. A photo of an organization called 'Hami Nepal', of which Gurung is the president, honoring Bhatta as a donor on December 21, 2021, has also been made public. Seven RSP MPs, office bearers and central members who were spoken to by Kantipur shared the same view that an investigation should be conducted after questions were raised about Home Minister Gurung. 

Minister Gurung's asset details, which were made public on March 29, do not disclose his investment in Star Micro Insurance Company Limited and Liberty Micro Life Insurance. Details of Gurung's purchase of shares from the secondary stock market after the Gen-G movement and before becoming a minister have also been made public. There is no mention of that in Gurung's asset details either.

In the asset details made public by the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Gurung had mentioned that he had assets worth Rs 3 million for 30,000 shares in Hope Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and Rs 5.7 million for 57,000 shares in Lagum Premium Apartments Pvt. Ltd. Similarly, it was mentioned that he had assets worth Rs 7 million in the name of Adventure Villa Pvt. Ltd. He also had shares worth Rs 27.456 million (traded in the stock market).

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs arrested Bhatta on 19 Chaitra for investigating money laundering offences. Bhatta, who was arrested on the basis of a letter from the Money Laundering Investigation Department, is being investigated.

Minister Gurung, giving a clarification on Monday on the questions raised against him through social media, claimed that he had clearly mentioned more than Rs 20 million in his asset details as shares traded in the stock market. ‘The investment in Star Micro Insurance and Liberty Micro is also included in this group. This is not a matter of hiding, it is a matter of classification,' he said. But Star and Liberty Micro Insurance Companies have not gone for IPO (initial share issue). Therefore, there is no trading in the stock market.

Khemraj Regmi, former president of Transparency International Nepal, said that since this government comes from the foundation of Gen-G movement and good governance, Gurung would be appropriate to distance himself from the Home Minister when the question was raised. 'The government should be able to answer when the question is raised. Both the party and the government should talk about whether the alternative is resignation or something else.'

The Prime Minister's Secretariat has not responded to the question raised against Home Minister Gurung. Kantipur had contacted the Prime Minister's Chief Political Advisor Kumar Ben, but after being unable to talk to him, it sent three written questions to the Home Minister, including the Prime Minister's opinion on the issue of good governance. That too was not answered.

  Khemraj Regmi Another official from the secretariat claimed that the parties involved in the ongoing investigation into money laundering brought up this issue to protect themselves. He said, “Many parties have played a role in this issue coming out, but it does not mean that we will not answer when questions arise.” The government should be able to answer when the question was raised- 

Home Minister Gurung, on the other hand, responded via social media that he is ready to cooperate with the investigation. “I will fully comply with every decision made by the party on this issue and am ready to provide necessary assistance in the investigation,” he wrote on Monday afternoon. “Allegations and truth are not the same thing, decisions should not be based on emotion, but on evidence.”

Home Minister Gurung has insisted that the investigation against Bhatta is being conducted by the Money Laundering Investigation Department under the Ministry of Finance, not by the Home Ministry. “If I had interfered in any way, such an investigation process would not have proceeded,” he said. “The meaning is clear, the process is ongoing, not the effect.” Gurung has also claimed that he took a loan to invest, arguing that buying shares is not a partnership with everyone.

Home Minister Gurung wrote another status on social media Facebook at 9:46 pm on Monday. In it, he said, ‘Those who have been eyeing the money that has been exchanged for blood and sweat in the national treasury for years are scared today. Media trials and sponsored rumors are just their distraction. Action will not be stopped, will not be wavered. I have never seen so much pain behind those who commit corruption of Rs 500 million a day.’

Gurung entered politics after emerging as a leader of the Gen-G movement on 23 Bhadra. He was elected from Gorkha-1 on behalf of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the House of Representatives elections held on 21 Falgun. Many were surprised when Gurung became the Home Minister in the Council of Ministers formed under the leadership of senior leader Balendra Shah after the RSS won almost two-thirds of the seats.

According to a leader of the RSS, party President Ravi Lamichhane wanted to make the then Vice President DP Aryal the Home Minister. Prime Minister Shah had proposed the name of Sunil Lamsal. The leader says that Gurung was put forward as another option while both sides were taking their respective stances.

Home Minister Gurung's steps in the government formed on the foundation of good governance, transparency and the rule of law were controversial from the beginning. The lawmakers themselves seem dissatisfied, saying that he did not coordinate when he went out for inspection. On March 10, after meeting Prime Minister Shah, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) lawmakers Madhu Chaulagain of Kavre and Ashika Tamang of Dhading raised issues such as the fact that the Home Minister did not even inform them when they visited their constituencies. Questions are being raised within the party that Home Minister Gurung has also interfered in the work of other ministries.

Immediately after becoming Home Minister on March 13, he had instructed Police Chief Dan Bahadur Kaki to immediately arrest former Prime Minister and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and his cabinet minister Ramesh Lekhak. On the first day, after the instructions to arrest Oli and the writer were issued, Karki and Armed Police Force Chief Raju Aryal had expressed the opinion that the process should be taken forward only after a detailed study of the report of the inquiry commission led by Gauri Bahadur Karki.

Gurung said that if they were not arrested, he would stay at the police headquarters in Naxal, and a senior police officer informed that the secretary of the law ministry was also called in at midnight for discussion. According to him, the police chiefs then sought written permission for the arrest and after correspondence, Oli and the writer were arrested the next morning by issuing the necessary arrest warrants. Oli and the writer were released 15 days later on the order of the Supreme Court.