UML leader Krishna Gopal Shrestha, who once called KP Sharma Oli the 'Pele of football', has recently opened up to the Ishwor Pokharel group. He was elected as a member of the UML Standing Committee in the 10th General Convention and is set to be a candidate for secretary from the Pokharel group in the 11th General Convention.

The same Shrestha used to spend a long time praising KP Oli. When he was the Minister of Education in 2078 BS, Shrestha compared Oli to the great football player Pele, saying that he was powerful.

His speech at the Tribhuvan University convocation ceremony even became famous. He had said at that time, ‘KP Oli is the KP Oli, he is like the Pele of football, is there anyone who can bring him to the streets and overthrow him? Is it possible to resign like that? Rest assured, the Education Minister of a more powerful government is in front of you than yesterday. Is this a government that has come with the love of a court? A court decision will not solve the problem.’

Shrestha was previously elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-9 in 2079 BS. Before that, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-5 in the 2048 BS election and from Kathmandu-7 in the 2051 BS mid-term election. Similarly, he was elected from Kathmandu-9 in the 2074 Federal Parliament House of Representatives election.

Shrestha, who was the Minister of State for Local Development in 2059 BS, became a minister in the KP Oli-led government in 2077 BS.

He joined the CPN (ML) in 2035 BS through student politics. He was the Tribhuvan University Committee Chairman of ANNFSU, and held various responsibilities in the Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur District Committees of the CPN (ML) from 2035 to 2047 BS.

He was elected as a member of the National Council of the CPN (UML) in 2049 BS and as a central member of the UML in 2054 BS.