Elections 2022
It’s not a movie shoot.
Bollywood actor Manisha Koirala is back in Nepal ahead of the November 20 elections. And she is throwing her weight behind the pro-Hindu and pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidates.
By doing so, the granddaughter of BP Koirala – the doyen of Nepali Congress party – has raised many an eyebrow.
She had been supporting her father Prakash Koirala, a Nepali Congress candidate, in most of the post-1990 elections.
This time around, however, the tables have turned. That may have caused discomfort to several Nepali Congress leaders, mainly those candidates from the Koirala clan.
Having joined RPP’s campaign meets and rallies in Syangja and Hetauda, Koirala on Tuesday participated in the door-to-door campaign in Kathmandu-1, canvassing for Rabindra Mishra. The journalist-turned-politician, Mishra, recently quit the Bibeksheel Sajha party to join RPP.
A NepalMinute.com photographer captured Koirala - clad in Salwar suit and down jacket with a red Teeka on her forehead – walking in a dense neighbourhood of eastern Kathmandu. See photos:
Contesting his second election to the member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-1, Mishra is expected to face a stiff challenge from Nepali Congress’ Prakash Man Singh, Nepal Sushashan Party’s Ramesh Kharel and Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Pukar Bam.
It has been hardly a week since the Bombay and Dil Se actor took a break from her busy schedule in Mumbai, India.
On November 10, she wrote on her Facebook wall: “I’m taking some time off my busy schedule and heading home to participate in an election campaign in favour of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party that has got a Young, dynamic and visionary leader Rajendra Lingden.”
Soon upon arrival in Nepal, Koirala addressed an RPP rally, heaping praise on party chair Lingden. “’Indulging in corruption amounts to consuming mother’s blood.’ That’s what he says and that’s what I like about him.”
The actor reiterated that she had been “inspired to join politics, a national duty by BP [Koirala]”.
Monarchy may have been confined to history by the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly in 2008, but Koirala argued, “The country needs monarchy as its guardian and a vibrant nationalist party that cares for people’s socio-economic issues under a democratic framework.”
Nepal’s last king, or the last Hindu monarch, Gyanendra Shah, left the Narayanhiti palace on June 11, 2008. The royal family has been living in their private bungalow, Nirmal Niwas, in northern Kathmandu since.
In recent times, amidst calls for the restoration of Hindu monarchy, it is widely believed that the former king has quietly supported the RPP. But such reports are not independently verified.
Meanwhile, attending RPP rallies, Manisha Koirala has been actively advocating for a Hindu state and a Hindu monarchy in Nepal.
But will that matter much?
Leaders of bigger parties, including the Nepali Congress-led ruling alliance and the CPN-UML-led opposition alliance, have not reacted aggressively to actor Koirala’s latest move.
And they know, RPP is not a big political force if the results of past elections are anything to go by. Besides, the party remains fragmented. For one, a former pro-monarchy advocate, Kamal Thapa, has forged an electoral alliance with CPN-UML strongman KP Oli.
But writing on Twitter on November 14, Mishra's former colleague in Bibeksheel Sajha, Surya Raj Acharya, pondered: “It may seem unnatural that Manisha Koirala has been speaking in RPP gatherings. Numerous questions have been raised.
“Questions hurled at Manisha have bounced back to those who raised them. After all, how did we reach this situation when we are seeing BP’s granddaughter seeking support and votes for RPP?”
