Raut dissatisfied with his own Chief Minister in Madhesh

KATHMANDU: Last year in mid-July, the Janamat Party served Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh with a formal notice seeking clarification over his conduct. The letter, issued by the party’s disciplinary committee, reached Singh while he was in the middle of a meeting with party leaders and cadres.

The content of the letter left little room for doubt: the Janamat Party was increasingly unhappy with Singh’s working style. The party accused him of unilaterally distributing ministerial portfolios, prioritising ribbon-cutting ceremonies over substantive public service, ignoring party directives and repeatedly damaging the party’s image.

This was the first instance of a party formally demanding a clarification from its own Chief Minister in the history of federalism in Nepal.

The Janamat Party got an opportunity to lead the Madhesh Province Government after the fall of the coalition led by Saroj Kumar Yadav of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), Nepal. Although Mahesh Yadav was the leader of the parliamentary party, Janamat chose Singh, who had recently joined the party from the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) Nepal, to lead the provincial government.

The decision stirred dissatisfaction within the parliamentary party, but the leadership stood by Singh. Now, senior Janamat leaders admit that the gamble has not paid off. Singh has not led the government as hoped or expected, they say.

Party insiders claim that even Janamat Chairperson CK Raut has grown increasingly disillusioned with Singh’s style of governance. “The government hasn’t functioned in line with the party’s expectations. Naturally, the leadership is dissatisfied,” said a senior party leader.

Chairperson Raut’s recent comments on social media further reflect his displeasure. “It is extremely unfortunate that even with our government and Chief Minister, there has been a blatant disregard for party instructions,” Raut wrote in a Facebook post. “The matter is being discussed within the party’s parliamentary party and secretariat, which will take appropriate decisions.”

Raut’s frustration centres around the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and recent political appointments made by the government.

According to Raut, the budget fails to reflect Janamat’s policies, principles and long-term vision. He added that most of the programs proposed by the party after consulting the public were excluded from the budget. Raut alleged that the budget has incorporated schemes pushed through by middlemen and other parties, some receiving allocations of as much as Rs 20 million. “By contrast, programs recommended by Janamat were allocated as little as Rs 500,000,” he said.

Raut also expressed discontent over the fact that the party had been completely sidelined in recent political appointments, despite leading the government. Not a single party member was appointed to any of the key positions in the Communications Authority, Media Council, Film Board, or Folk Media Promotion Board.

“There have been two to three dozen political appointments. Other parties divided them among themselves, and not even one person from Janamat was included,” Raut said. “The party has been kept in the dark about government decisions. Even when we request information, we don’t get it. Of course, party cadres are angry.”

The Janamat Party has called a secretariat meeting this Sunday to discuss the budget, recent appointments and overall governance.

Party spokesperson Sharad Singh Yadav said that Sunday’s meeting will take the necessary decisions.