"Mahesh Basnet's Sarcastic Congratulations to Minister Kharel, Alleging a 'Return to the Old Government's Line'!"

Kathmandu. CPN (UML) leader Mahesh Basnet has severely criticized the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Jagadish Kharel, for the government's alleged 'double standard' on the issue of controlling social media and fake news.

The criticism comes in the context of Minister Kharel recently discussing the need to control fake news and AI (Artificial Intelligence) content, claiming they are tarnishing the government's and his own image. Leader Basnet published a 'Facebook Post' containing a sarcastic comment via social media.

In his post, Basnet took a jab at the current Communications Minister Kharel's party, stating they should not forget the 'murder, violence, and looting' that occurred when they previously mobilized Gen Z to the streets to protest the policy of the erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government to bring social media into the tax net for registration and regulation.

"Remember, no one should forget that when you all pushed to bring the social media policy, introduced by the KP Oli government, under the tax net for registration and regulation, the Gen Z brothers and sisters were mobilized onto the streets, creating an atmosphere of murder, violence, and looting, and you became a minister on the back of that very strength," Basnet wrote.

He ended by sarcastically congratulating Kharel, saying that it has not even been a month since he became a minister, yet he has 'returned to the line' of the old government.