Minister Adhikari claims audio leak as a character assassination

KATHMANDU- Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Balram Adhikari, has claimed he has no involvement in the recently surfaced audio controversy, calling it as a conspiracy to assassinate his character.

During a press conference held at the ministry he said he is ready to face any punishment if proven guilty.

He claimed that it is a clear attempt of character assassination. “Those who failed to fulfill their personal interests have resorted to such tactics,” he said. He claimed some individuals tried to pressure him regarding the transfer of a government official, and after he refused, the audio was made public. He stressed that,” i have no involvement with the leaked audio clip and there is not even a single bit of my voice on it.”

However, Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta, who was involved in the same case, resigned soon after the audio clip was made public.

Minister Rajkumar Gupta resigns

Kathmandu – UML MP Rajkumar Gupta, who was involved in the bribery ‘deal’ case, has resigned.

A few days ago, an audio clip of Minister Gupta demanding a bribe was made public. He was also widely opposed after the audio was made public.

Unable to bear the accusations and criticism, Gupta said that he reached the secretariat of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the party chairman, today and submitted his resignation.

The audio clip of Minister Gupta demanding a bribe of Rs 7.8 million and accepting some of the money in the end of 2081 Paush was made public only a few days ago.

The audio clip of the then chief of the Kaski Land Revenue Office, Ram Chandra Adhikari, demanding a bribe of Rs 5.3 million to stop a transfer and a bribe of Rs 2.5 million to make UML’s Gandaki Province member Khem Bahadur Pun the chairman of the Land Commission, Kaski, was released.

A complaint has been filed with the Authority, claiming that Gupta took a bribe of Rs 5.3 million, along with two bags containing the bribe money, note numbers and a photo of the bundle of notes.

The opposition parties had demanded his resignation and also demanded action.