Government is Leading the Corruption and Scandals in the Country: Purna Basnet

Purna Basnet, Head of the Publicity Department of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, has claimed that the government has been leading and protecting the corruption and scandals occurring in the country.

Referring to the leaked audio involving Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajkumar Gupta taking a bribe, he accused the government of being directly or indirectly involved in hundreds of scandals that have taken place across the nation.

He said, “In cases like the Lauda scandal, Dhamija scandal, Czech Air scandal, Airbus scandal, Sudan scam, wide-body aircraft procurement scandal, Terramax scandal, fake Bhutanese refugee scam, gold smuggling scandal, cooperative fraud case, Giribandhu scandal, Ncell case, Omni scandal, Yeti scandal, security printing press case, misuse of land belonging to child organizations, Bansbari land case, Lalita Niwas land grab case, Batas scandal, Nepal Trust land scandal, Pathibhara cable car land case, Tikapur land scandal, Scout land scandal, Melamchi project case, water tank case, combatant cantonment scam, visit visa scam, and the Patanjali land misappropriation case – though the government may have tried to intimidate or threaten a few individuals in these scandals, it has actually led, protected, and defended them. The government is involved in all these scandals in one way or another.”

He further claimed that the government has a remarkable ability to dodge responsibility in any kind of corruption or scandal, pretending to be unaware. New scandals emerge every few days while old ones fade away, and in this way, the government often ignores, denies, or acts unaware of these cases to escape accountability.

He also raised a question: if so many scandals have come to light publicly in such an exposed manner, how many more could have occurred secretly and remain hidden from the public?