This blog post may be offensive to many people. But our goal is not to offend anyone. We are writing this blog post for knowledge purposes.
Nepal may look like a small country in size, but the politics and other fields in the country have caused the rise of many controversial personalities throughout history.
This blog post is our small attempt to bring you the names of the most controversial personalities in the history of Nepal. These are the names whose names have been mostly associated with controversies.
Names Of 6 Most Controversial Personalities In History Of Nepal
We have picked the names from history as well as the modern time. You may agree with some names while you may not with some names. We have included these names on the basis of the public acts that have caused controversies.
1. Dr. CK Raut
If you will ask any Nepali who is the most controversial personality in Nepal? Most of them will probably say the name CK Raut. CK Raut has been always a topic of controversy for a long time. CK Raut is a politician, activist, and author. He has been in controversy for his Alliance For Independent Madhesh whose aim was to establish a new country for the people of Madhesh. And this is the biggest reason why he has always been in controversy. His speech and debate have created outrage several times among Nepalese. He has ended this movement after forming a new political party Janamat Party by signing an 11-point agreement with the Government Of Nepal in 2019. By doing this, even most of the people who used to support him began to unfollow him. Now he seems to be more active in politics than his separatist movement. He always talks about the welfare of Madhesi but rarely seems to do something for the development of the Madhesis. That’s why most Nepalese don’t like him much.
2. Chadra Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana
Some of you may disagree with us about him being one of the most controversial personalities in Nepal. Chandra Samsher JBR was indeed a social reformer because of many social reforms he brought to Nepal during his reign. But there are also many acts of him that also criticize him and made him a topic of controversy in the history of Nepal. Chandra Shamsher JBR was a clever and educated, but despotic and very conservative Prime Minister. He is credited as the cruelest Prime Minister. He was the kind of person who was willing to do anything to come into power. He along with his brother even murdered his uncle to rise in the line of succession for hereditary Rana Prime Minister of Nepal. Later he staged a coup d’état event and seized the power of Prime Minister from his brother Dev Shamsher in June 1901 and became the Prime Minister of Nepal. It is also said that he is the one who is the master behind the mysterious death of Gahendra Shamsher. Although Singh Durbar was built by him, many controversies were revolved around this. He used the national treasure to build Singh Durbar and then sell it to the nation/Government Of Nepal for almost 20 Million dollars. This shows how clever he was.
3. Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Everyone who knows about the Nepalese Royal Massacre that happened on June 1, 2001, also must be knowing why his name is on this list. Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was the eldest son of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Queen Aishwariya. Although the name of Dipendra isn’t associated with many historical incidents, his name being associated with the cruelest and most brutal Royal Massacre in the history of Nepal made him one of the most controversial personalities in Nepal. Many rumors and theories are still revolving around why he directed such a massacre against his own family. That massacre didn’t only kill the royal family but also weaken the Monarchy system in Nepal that later led to the end of Rajtantra in Nepal on 28 May 2008. Dipendra was the king of Nepal for three days from June 1 to June 4 while he was in a coma after shooting himself in the head after the Royal massacre.
4. Pushpa Kamal Dahal/Prachanda
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda is a Nepalese politician and two times Prime Minister of Nepal from 2008-09 and 2016-17. He will always be remembered as the man behind the Nepalese Civil War that had caused summary executions, massacres, kidnappings, purges, war crimes, and many other crimes against humanity in Nepal from 1996 to 2006. Prachanda was the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal(Moist) during the Nepalese Civil War. This civil war in the country had caused the deaths of over 17,000 people including civilians, insurgents, army, police personnel, and teachers. It had also caused the displacements of many Nepalese, especially in the rural areas of Nepal. Although he has now become a politician, he is still criticized for this civil war in the country. After entering politics, he still gets criticized for tons of things by people as well as his opponents. While he is criticized for Nepotism in politics, he also gets criticized for not having good relations with his colleagues. Apart from all these, he has been in controversies for corruption on many occasions.
5. KP Sharma Oli
No other Prime Minister of Nepal has been in controversies in recent times like KP Sharma Oli. Along with receiving praises for many works during his three times Prime Minister period. Initially, he came to controversies during Madhesh Andolan(Madhes Movement) 2072. People, especially from Madhesh had a lot of outrage for him at that time because of the new Constitution Of Nepal 2015. He had been also timely and frequently getting criticized by opponent parties during his time in the office of Prime Minister. Apart from these, he used to be in controversy for his frequent use of tongue-cheek remarks and hostility towards media & critics. He was mostly criticized for showing silence on corruption by his colleagues and business aides, failing to deliver on economic growth, and for deviating from promised budgetary expenditures despite a historic majority in the 2017 legislative election.
6. Rajendra Mahato
Rajendra Mahato is another name in the controversial personalities in Nepal. He is a Nepalese politician who was the parliamentary leader of the People’s Socialist Political Party. He has served as the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Of Urban Development, Minister Of Health and Population, and Minister Of Commerce and Supplies. However, his name has been frequently added to many controversies. The most popular controversy revolving around him was about his birth and citizenship.
Even after being a politician, the question regarding his birth and citizenship had put him in a big controversy in 2019. It was a rumor that Mahato is one of the eight politicians whose citizenship was annulled when the cabinet decided to cancel the citizenship of individuals who has acquired citizenship through forged documents. Although the government published the name of those individuals, their full details are still disclosed. Many youths of the UML party pleaded for canceling his citizenship. Also on June 21, 2021, even a note was pasted on the wall of Singh Durbar by Naya Party to restrict the entry of Rajendra Mahato in the premises.
He was also in controversy when he burnt the copy of the newly promulgated constitution of Nepal. After the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, along strike was brought to light by the then Madheshi morcha mainly in the terai of Nepal. Mahato burned a copy of the Constitution of Nepal at the premises of Narayani Sub-regional hospital, Birgunj stating that he cannot accept the constitution which failed to integrate and maintain the Madhesi’s rights at any cost.
Last year, he was also criticized for the demand for two nation-states. On 4 June 2021, a group of PSP-N led by Mahanta Thakur accepted the proposal of PM KP Sharma Oli of joining the government. Rajendra Mahato led a group of 8 ministers and 2 state ministers to the government. However, his statement of him was highly criticized. Mahato included a line; “We remain committed to building an alternative power and will safeguard identity and rights of our people. As long as we are in power, we will pursue good governance. We will prepare for a nationwide movement to set up a multi-nation state in Nepal.” The comment drew quick criticism on social media Twitter, Facebook, and Tik-Tok which accused Mr. Mahato of playing divisive politics. It was disliked by many high-ranked political leaders. He is one of those Madhesi leaders who keep talking about the right and welfare of Madhesis, but hesitate to even speak Maithali or Nepali while giving a public speech. These are the things that keep Rajendra Mahato in the controversies frequently.
Conclusion
These are the few names of the most controversial personalities of Nepal. We haven’t included the names who are in controversy only a few times like controversies between actors, actresses, or players. Neither we do have any hate with these personalities nor we are targeting them. We have written this post on the basis of the public appearance of these personalities. If you agree with us, let us know in the comment box, and if you think there are other names that should be added to this list, then also let us know. We will surely consider your suggestions.
