Protesters burn effigy of Nepal PM Oli; clash with police demanding reinstatement of electricity authority chief

Kathmandu [Nepal], March 25 : Protesters in Nepal on Tuesday resorted to hitting the street demanding reinstatement of Nepal Electricity Authority chief Kulman Ghising, who was suspended from post on Monday evening.

In various protests held in Kathmandu, dozens of protesters skirmished with Nepal police near the parliament as they attempted to break the restricted area. Later in the evening, the All Nepal National Independent Students Union (Revolutionary) burned the effigy of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, protesting the move to depose Ghising.
The cabinet meeting held at Singha Durbar on Monday evening decided to relieve Managing Director Ghising of his post.
During the protest, the protesters raised slogans such as 'Ujyalo Nepal Zindabad, Adharo Sarkar Murdabad, 'Ujyalo Nepal Zindabad, ' and 'Kulman Ghising Zindabad. ' Within 24 hours of Ghising's deposition, Hitendra Dev Shakya officially assumed office as the Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
The same meeting removed Ghising from the post and appointed Shakya as his successor. Shakya had previously led NEA but was replaced by Kulman Ghising. His legal battle challenging this removal remained unresolved, with his petition pending before the Supreme Court for years.
Despite his attending 31 hearings, a verdict was never reached, and his four-year term expired while awaiting a decision. Now, backed by the ruling alliance of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, Shakya has returned to the top position at NEA.
His initial four-year tenure, which began in 2077 BS under then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, was cut short after Sher Bahadur Deuba's government reappointed Ghising in 2078 BS. With his term technically set to end in just six days, Shakya's reappointment comes amid public outrage over Ghising's dismissal.
The move has drawn criticism, with concerns that political interests have taken precedence over institutional stability.
Previously, the cabinet had sought an explanation multiple times after the departmental minister failed to remove Ghising. To justify his dismissal, his performance was deliberately rated poorly.
Credited for bringing reformation in Nepal's electricity sector and ending about 18-hour power cuts, Ghising has a large following and the support of the public. Lately, Ghising and the Energy Minister Deepak Khadka have been at loggerheads.
Earlier in the first week of March, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation awarded Kulman Ghising a zero score in the work performance evaluation.
"Kulman Ghising had about three months of his tenure left in the office, but he was removed from the office through a political coup. With this reactionary move by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, we have hit the street again to protect this democratic system," Narayan Sharma, another protester, told ANI.
Ghising received a zero score based on performance evaluation for the fiscal year 2023-24. Ghising submitted a detailed report to the ministry claiming 98.99 per cent marks and included key performance indicators for evaluation.
Ghising submitted an evaluation report on January 9 claiming 98.99 per cent marks for the work performed in the fiscal year 2023-24. The NEA said that Ghising had previously received scores of 94.23 per cent and 98.94 per cent from the Energy Ministry in the performance evaluations for fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.